


All Because Of A Car

by WordsAblaze



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Reader friend cameo, Romance, Slow Burn, because why not, cresswell, iko being iko, in the sense that it's been a year of this fic and they're not even thinking of being together, kaider, tumblr is their method of communication
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2018-11-28 06:31:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11412231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsAblaze/pseuds/WordsAblaze
Summary: Cinder's life revolved around the garage, working as a mechanic, until that one male student came in looking for a Mercedes and changed her life... AU AH Kaider story.





	1. Mercedes

The boy looks like a prince.

He also walks straight into the glass door.

Cinder laughs aloud, still always amused when people do that. It's also a small source of entertainment after a long day working.

The boy rubs his nose with an air of indignation before pushing the door open and blinking at the strange orange lights.

"Can I help you?" Cinder asks.

But her mind is elsewhere.

Because the stranger looks so handsome in his royal purple blazer and his crisp, cream coloured shirt. The trousers that match his blazer should be absolutely ridiculous but he makes it look as if he's made of the night sky itself.

His eyes, a metallic copper brown, are bright and happy, framed by his dark eyelashes and somewhat covered by the locks of his hair. The inky black hair that looks smoother than marble but softer than velvet, grown past his ears in almost a shaggy way but still somehow appearing neat and elegant.

His prominent cheekbones make him look like the emperor of beauty and his perfect cupid's bow only adds to his angelic aura. The cute lopsided grin he gives her almost melts her heart, the tiny dimples and wrinkles at his eyes sending her mental thoughts haywire.

Cinder could tolerate all of her sisters' nonsense if it meant seeing more guys like him.

"Hello, sorry, have you been sent a black Mercedes lately?"

Cinder's whole brain melts at the sound of his voice, the deep but gentle tone and the way he makes himself talk slow as if he has a habit of talking too fast.

"Um, I can check for you?" Cinder manages to say, fidgeting with her gloves.

"Thank you." The boy smiles.

Cinder wonders if he's older than he looks because he doesn't look as if he's old enough to drive a Mercedes – or afford it, for that matter.

"It's my Dad's but I left my school bag in it..." The boy explains, as if reading her mind.

"Do you know the license plate number?"

It's just now that she notices he's carrying a book in his hands. A book all about the moon and stars.

Cinder grins to herself, finding him even cuter. She always finds herself getting excited when someone's learning about the moon; she loves the moon. It's a constant source of comfort, always visible from her bedroom window when she needs someone to release her anger to. Or her sadness. Or any emotion really.

"Um... Sorry, I..." he trials off, coughing awkwardly.

Cinder smiles at him, "Any letters at all?"

"A seven?" He frowns, going rosy, "That's not a letter, I apologise."

"I can work with that." Cinder nods to herself, searching the information.

She prays his car is here.

And grins when it is, sighing with relief.

"Do you have it?" The boy asks hopefully.

"Yeah and, wow, it's badly damaged..." she whistles, not wanting to ask what happened in case he was involved but really wanting to know what caused so much damage to such a tough car.

He shifts uncomfortably, "Yeah..."

"Actually, I'm the one who's fixing it."

He looks so excited, she might jump for joy. She internally applauds herself for skirting the car topic, then chides herself for being so weird; he's only a boy. Cinder knows she'll probably never see him again after his car is fixed.

Still, she can't help but hope.

"Really?" He asks.

No, but she'll make sure she is.

"Yes. Do you like the moon?" She asks.

He looks suddenly shy, hiding the book behind his back, "Um, why?"

Her heart clenches at the thought of someone having done something that makes this boy want to hide his interests.

"I just love the moon too and I don't meet many people who do," she says quickly.

She doesn't meet any people at all.

The boy's eyes light up, "Well, now you've met me!"

Cinder smiles again, "Come on, let's find your bag."

She leads the way, letting him talk about the stars for the entire time. The cadence of his voice doesn't waver for even a split second and she can't help grinning at the enthusiasm he shows.

It's obvious that he's not memorised this but rather, he's learnt it and understood it.

Just as she thinks this, he stumbles over the step and falls to his knees, groaning as he pushes himself back up. The first time he tries, his ankle twists and he falls back again, shutting his eyes for a fleeting second. He manages to pull himself upright the second time, smiling in apology at Cinder.

Cinder winces for him but internally smiles, concluding to herself that he's a true nerd.

"Are you okay?" Cinder asks, steadying him as he wobbles.

He runs a hand through his hair and nods, "I'm good."

She smiles and opens the door, unlocking the second one to get in the garage. She sighs to herself as she enters, the smell of oil, paint and petrol making her feel as if she's at home again.

Almost without thinking, she rolls her sleeves up and pulls her gloves on tighter, tightening the bobble in her hair so the straight brown locks don't fall onto her face and annoy her.

It reminds her of when she used to own the garage with her father, back when it was just the two of them. She doesn't remember her mother but her earliest memories all include her father and the two of them working together on something. Of course, that was all before he re-married and promptly vanished.

And before her mother tried her best to get into mechanics with her, baking her cakes with screwdrivers made out of icing on top. Cinder smiles at the memory but falters as she remembers. She remembers her aunt visiting; she remembers her mother holding back tears and whispering that she loved her; she remembers her mother going missing with no explanation...

She shakes her head, snapping herself out of the counter-intuitive nostalgic thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU, AH, and perhaps a tad OOC, sorry :) Leave a kudos or comment?


	2. Promsie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder's life revolved around the garage, working as a mechanic, until that one male student came in looking for a Mercedes and changed her life... AU AH Kaider story.

The boy coughs as he enters the garage, probably because of the sudden change in atmosphere, but follows behind her anyway, keeping a smile on his face despite his difficulty in breathing properly.

She smirks to herself.

"Hey fireball, what's up?" Garan asks her, a small smile on his face.

Garan had been the only kind one out of her new family. The problem was that his trade job required him to be all over the world, with only a moment's notice. He wasn't here to save her from Adri. And when he was here, he was organising the business or working in the garage. Not that she blamed him for doing that...

She glares at him, "Just because you're technically in charge doesn't mean I won't throw something at you."

"Yes it does." he laughs, "Who's that?"

Cinder curses, "I knew I forgot to ask something..."

"Name?" Garan asks the boy.

"Kai."

He doesn't reply with a sentence, either because he still can't breathe properly, because he's mirroring Garan or because he's being efficient.

She hasn't heard the name before but, then again, she's never met anyone like him either. It suits him anyway – a mystical name that sounds deep, intelligent and bright.

"Are you looking for your bag?" Garan asks.

Kai nods.

Garan frowns sadly, "I'm afraid that it was crushed..."

Kai's eyes widen, "Can I see?"

Cinder feels for Kai as Garan hands him a crushed, ripped schoolbag. Strangely, he doesn't seem too bothered, more worried than upset. All he takes from it is a black spiral notebook, two pens and a Rubik cube.

He slips the pens in his pocket and transfers the notebook to his other arm so he's holding the moon book and the notebook in the same hand. With his other hand, he fiddles with the Rubik cube.

"You sure that's all you want?" Garan asks.

Kai nods, "Yes, thank you."

Cinder gives Garan a look, which he correctly translates and leaves the two of them to walk back.

"Thanks," Kai says.

"My pleasure." she's never used that phrase more truthfully.

"So, what school do you go to?" Kai asks as they're walking back.

Cinder cringes, "Um, I don't."

Kai, to his credit, doesn't seem to find this weird and smiles, "Are you home-schooled?"

She almost laughs at his obliviousness and nods so that she doesn't dampen his spirit and ruin his crazy perfect smile, "Yeah, exactly."

He grins, "Is it nice to have a peaceful schooling?"

Cinder thinks about how to reply.

She could just lie and agree but it might not seem realistic. And anyway, how can she say that she'd rather have those pointless dramas than the ones she faces at home? How can she tell him that she'd rather have all the annoying classmates than her sisters? How can she tell him she'd willingly take any type of school as opposed to none?

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." She settles with a vague answer, cringing anyway.

"At what time are you done with school?" Kai asks, still smiling at her.

"Normal time; we like to keep it similar, you know?"

Kai smiles, "I wouldn't really know, I've not been home-schooled before."

"Why does it matter anyway?" Cinder asks.

Kai shrugs, "I thought you might want to hang out?"

Cinder's heart almost misses a beat but she manages to smirk, "And why would I want to do that?"

Kai looks slightly hurt at first but shrugs it off, seeing the frivolous spark in her eyes, "Just why wouldn't you?"

She might have to buy herself a new heart if he keeps fluttering his eyelashes and smirking at her like that. She might even have to reboot her whole brain if she spends any more time with him.

Because holy nuts and bolts, the coppery colour in his eyes seems to shine brighter than embers as they walk back into the main part of the shop.

Cinder throws her hands up, "Fine, you win."

"Oh, good. Um, how should I communicate with you?"

Cinder laughs, "Communicate?"

Kai blushes, his fair skin taking on a rosy tint, "Sorry."

Cinder chuckles, "I don't have a phone so..."

He looks genuinely worried, "You don't?"

She shakes her head, "No, I've never needed one. I can email you though."

"Okay, do you know your email?"

"You don't know yours?" she retorts.

"Of course I do!" he exclaims, then smiles sheepishly, "I'm not allowed to give it out."

Allowed? Cinder frowns at the word but puts it down to him having strict parents.

She grabs his arm, swallows her guilt as he initially flinches, and grabs a sharpie, quickly scribbling down her email in what she hopes is legible handwriting.

"Thanks. I'll get back to you later!" Kai promises.

"We'll see." she grins to herself.

"Do you doubt me?" he asks, raising his eyebrow in a perfect arch.

Cinder shrugs. "How should I know?"

Kai frowns. "How should you know if you're doubting yourself?"

"What? No. How should I know if you can keep your promise?"

Kai laughs with her but then smirks. "Of course I can keep my promise."

Cinder shrugs, believing that most promises people make are selfish and hard to keep. But the determined look in his eyes is almost enough to restore her faith in humanity.

Or at least some of it.

"I'll believe you once I get an email," Cinder says.

She can't remember the last time she's been so forward with anyone, especially a boy. Or so awkward...

"I'll send it!" Kai assures her with an optimistic grin.

She nods absently, then watches as he whacks his head on the glass door again with a soft groan. Cinder tries her best not to laugh, she really does.

"I promise I will, princess!" he calls over his shoulder as he leaves, barely avoiding a third collision with the door.

Cinder's tanned cheeks blaze pink, a warmth spreading through her veins as a result of his nickname for her.

She realises with a jolt that he had no choice but to give her a nickname because she didn't tell him her actual name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Borderline cliché, i am aware! But hey, hope you enjoyed! Leave a kudos or comment?


	3. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder's life revolved around the garage, working as a mechanic, until that one male student came in looking for a Mercedes and changed her life... AU AH Kaider story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who's back! Sorry to have left anyone who actually reads this hanging, the month fic took priority! Anyway, enjoy...

To her disappointment, Kai hasn't emailed her by the time she has to close up.

She'd hoped to have received something from him before heading home, never sure if she'll have any spare time after her daily chores.

Adri must notice that she's not feeling very good because Cinder gets given an unusually long list of chores to do. With a sigh, she tries to finish all of the requests, rolling her eyes as she sees shopping at the very bottom, having missed it at first glance.

Grabbing a coat and heading down the staircase two steps at a time, she slips her hands into her pockets and starts humming whatever comes into her head.

The air outside is cold, a breeze pushing her along the worn out pavement. Even the bright streetlights are dimmer than usual, a few of them flickering every so often. Her boots echo on the ground, the dull thuds filling the evening silence. The trees lining the pavement shake as the wind runs through them, sending leaves floating into her hair.

She ignores them, ducking her head and tensing her shoulders as she speed walks to the nearest shop.

It doesn't take her long to buy the things Adri had wanted and the ingredients for Pearl's school baking lessons, after which she sighs and slings the bags further along her arms, looking for the café she knows has recently opened, craving a coffee.

She pushes the door open with her shoulder, dumping the bags down on an empty table. She's not really paying attention to anyone around her when she goes to order so she quickly hands them the money and heads back to her table.

It's only when someone awkwardly clears their throat next to her that she jumps.

"Sorry!" Kai grins sheepishly. "Your coffee is ready…"

Cinder smiles. "Thanks. You work here?"

It's a stupid question, already answered by his uniform and name tag.

Kai blushes. "Yes."

Cinder laughs at his expression, shaking her head. "It's okay, I don't think it's a bad thing."

"Good, because I could have dropped your coffee on you or something. I am the waiter."

She smiles again, chuckling.

"Anyway, enjoy the coffee!" Kai starts to turn away, then groans quietly, "I should probably give it to you…"

He slowly places the cup on the table, his cheeks flamed red as if tattooed.

Cinder would assure him that it's alright but she's laughing too hard and she can't stop her hysteria, even when Kai returns to the till to pick up another order and carries on with a smile.

Cinder sighs, slumping and sipping at her coffee.

She waits until there's only just enough in the cup to keep it warm, making it a good substitute for a hand warmer, and picks up her bags.

She glances back to see if she can catch a glimpse of Kai before she leaves but he's gone behind the till and she doesn't want to block the door so, with a shrug, she leaves and starts her journey home.

"Wait!"

Having only gone three steps, she turns, frowning and trying not to overbalance with her bags. Kai almost crashes into her, holding up a hand as he takes a breath.

"I like your shoelaces," he whispers.

She glances down, about to state that she's wearing flats devoid of lace, when something occurs to her and she smirks. "Thanks, I stole them from the president."

Kai's face lights up and he smiles so wide she can see his teeth. "Really?"

Cinder nods. "Of course."

The two of them quickly exchange URLs, both wearing matching grins as Kai scribbles on her hand and she scribbles on his. As she does, she notices that her email is still on his arm, slightly smudged.

"You planning on making it a tattoo?"

He starts to reply but winces as someone yells his name from inside the café.

"Sorry, but I'd really like to keep this job," Kai says quietly. "Until next time?"

"Sure. Later!" She calls as she walks on, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face.

"You're late," Adri tells her as she gets back, a frown on her face.

Cinder doesn't say anything, walking past her step-mother and unpacking the bags in the kitchen, putting the items in their places and folding the bags away, before heading up to her room.

There's not much in the tiny space, but there is a desk, where her laptop is flashing.

She frowns, flipping up the lid and wondering if someone had messed with it. But, thankfully, they haven't; it's simply a tumblr message notification.

_-Hey, Princess._

_-Apologies, I didn't say: this is Kai._

_-I told you I can keep my promises._

Cinder laughs inwardly.

Her heart does a strange flip inside of her and she has to bite her tongue to avoid disturbing the silence and risking getting grounded once again.

She immediately starts to type back.

**-well, look who didnt disappoint**

Either he's still online or he has push notifications enabled because he replies immediately.

_-Of course I didn't. How was the coffee?_

**-caffeinated**

**-** _Oh, good. Seems that we still know how to make coffee then._

_-_ **haha**

**-very funny**

**-not**

**-** _Not easily impressed, huh?_

_- **guess not**_

**-** _Clearly beverages aren't a very good strategy._

_-_ **not unless you want to lose**

**-** _Do I have competition?_

- **depends on what youre trying to win**

**-** _I'm not sure yet._

_-_ **well then youll be fine**

**-** _Did your apostrophe key break?_

_-_ **no why**

**-** _Never mind. I like your blog!_

_-_ **its not as aesthetic as yours**

**-** _Alas, we can't all have the Kai aesthetic._

_-_ **thank the stars**

**-** _They say you're welcome._

_-I must dash._

_-Night, Princess._

_-_ **see you round**

She decides to log off, instead working on fixing the lamp in the corner so that the light can change colour and not blind her every morning.

It's late when she starts to yawn, her stomach rumbling and her head pounding. She knows there's not going to be any food downstairs so she sighs and flops onto her bed, turning the lamp off and squeezing her eyes shut in the hope that she'll see Kai again tomorrow.

She does need to buy a coffee again anyway...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kai POV next chapter by the way! Leave a kudos or comment?


	4. Surprise

_**(Kai POV)** _

 

Kai grins widely as he logs out of tumblr, making sure his laptop is fully shut down before closing the lid and heading downstairs.

He's still thinking about the girl and how he should ask for her name without seeming awkward when he gets downstairs so he doesn't pay attention to his surroundings, crashing into Torin and reeling backwards, narrowly avoiding another collision with the door frame.

"Hey, little dude, I've got a surprise for you," Torin announces once he's recovered, ruffling Kai's hair.

Kai makes a face at both the hair ruffle and the use of yet another random nickname before his eyes widen and his grin broadens.

"A surprise?"

Torin laughs, then nods. "At the door."

"The door?" Kai asks, but runs to said place anyway.

As he opens the door, his jaw drops.

"How've you been, son?" Rikan asks, smiling.

Kai shuts his mouth but his eyes stay wide when he steps forward, as if trying to judge whether he's dreaming or not. Rikan chuckles and puts an arm around Kai, one hand holding his bag, the two of them staying in the same position until Torin coughs behind them.

Immediately jumping back, Kai turns to Torin with a sparkle in his eyes. Torin doesn't have time to protest before Kai's wrapped his arms around him, so he just laughs and hugs the boy back. Rikan puts his bag down and joins in, Kai laughing between the two of them as they make a hug sandwich.

"Why are you back early?" Kai asks eventually, as the three of them separate.

Rikan shrugs his shoulders. "I simply finished my work earlier than expected."

Kai actually jumps in excitement.

Torin and Rikan share an amused look as Kai goes to shut the door, then turns back with an even more excited look on his face. "Would you like to try my pizza?"

"Your pizza?" Rikan asks.

"There was cheese on the ceiling," Torin grumbles, "But the pizza seems to have turned out well."

"It was not the ceiling!" Kai argues, "It was just the wall…"

Rikan laughs. "Glad to see my departure hasn't changed you."

"You were only away for a pair of fortnights!" Kai says as if a month is no bigger deal than a day.

"I'll change clothes and then we can decide if cheese on the ceiling was worth it," Rikan says.

"It was the wall!" Kai calls as he walks into the kitchen, going to find the plates.

"It was definitely the ceiling," Torin says as Rikan heads upstairs, the two adults sharing a smirk as they hear Kai talking under his breath.

Kai's already set the table when Rikan comes down in more casual wear so the three of them can immediately settle down. Obviously, Kai is the one to excitedly serve the pizza, biting his lip as he waits for a reaction.

Rikan and Torin both sigh and hold up a hand with their index finger and thumb touching.

Kai grins. "So you like it?"

"Of course, there's no reason not to love it!" Torin exclaims.

"I second that!" Rikan says, smiling.

Laughing, Kai starts on his own slice, a comfortable silence settling across them as they eat.

Once the pizza has been completely devoured, Torin takes their plates back to the kitchen and Rikan settles with Kai on the sofa. Naturally, Torin sits on the other side of Kai once he gets back, Kai switching on a film without thinking about it, the three of them having done this every single time Rikan gets back from his business trips.

"Oh, what happened to the car?" Rikan inquires.

Kai freezes.

Torin sighs, knowing that Kai won't want to talk about it. He gives Rikan a look, hoping that it conveys what he's trying to say.

Rikan nods in understanding, and nudges Kai. "So, any potential significant others I should be aware of?"

Kai blushes, shaking his head.

"Your blood rush says otherwise." Torin winks.

"So you have found someone?" Rikan asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm almost certain it's that girl from the garage," Torin says casually.

Kai bites his lip.

"Are the two of you going to be using a school project as an excuse to spend time with each other?" Rikan asks, raising an eyebrow.

"She's home-schooled." Kai shakes his head, then groans.

"You fall for everything!" Rikan grins.

"She's worth falling for," Kai replies quietly.

Kai slumps in his seat as Torin makes a cooing sound and Rikan puts an arm around his shoulders, laughing brightly.

"What's her name?" Rikan asks eventually.

Kai shakes his head. "I'm not sure yet."

"You didn't ask?" Torin asks, pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief.

Rikan chuckles. "Of course he didn't, he's far too polite to admit that he doesn't know her name."

"Does she know your name?" Torin asks.

Kai nods, worrying his lip again.

"Stop that, I can't imagine your lip tastes nice."

Kai grins at his father, shaking his head. "It doesn't really taste of anything."

"You're meant to argue your own point, not someone else's." Torin shakes his head.

Before he can start to argue his point, the film's music gets louder and Kai jumps, his hands clamping over his mouth. He breathes heavily for a few moments, then grins sheepishly, stifling his laugh. Both Torin and Rikan look startled, but more because of Kai's reaction than the film.

There's only a small beat of silence before they burst out laughing, the film forgotten until they recover and catch their breath, only half watching because they keep intermittently laughing.

Once the film finishes, Kai hugs his father and whispers 'goodnight' before heading upstairs, despite being more than wide awake; he knows that the two of them will have a lot to discuss, for which he can't be present.

He stays at the top of the stairs, listening to Torin explain what happened to the car and listening to Rikan discuss how long he can afford to stay.

As Kai gets ready for bed, he hopes that Rikan can stay for a while this time, loving it when all three of them are together. He's already lying down when his phone beeps, signalling that he has a message on tumblr. Surprised, he checks who it could be.

- ** _your blog is keeping me awake_**

Kai laughs, shaking his head as he imagines someone as cool as her scrolling through his blog and actually liking it.

_-Aesthetic never sleeps, princess._

**_-yeah but I need to_ **

**_-_ ** _Is that not what coffee is for?_

**_-true_ **

**_-whats this post_ **

**-tumblr user sent a post-**

_-A metaphor. The child is the moon, growing and diminishing but always with the sun by their side._

_- **is the moon a child of the sun**_

**_-_ ** _No, the moon is simply looked after by the sun._

_- **i think i prefer literal concepts**_

**_-_ ** _Such as sleep?_

_- **yup**_

**_-_ ** _Sleep well then._

_- **don't be fooled, i'll deal with your metaphors later**_

**_-_ ** _I look forward to it._

_- **your mistake**_

_-We'll see._

_- **mmm**_

Kai doesn't reply, knowing that she's not online anymore so she won't see it. Instead, he sets his alarm and smiles as he shuts his eyes, turning over and wrapping the duvet around himself.

He doesn't stop smiling until he finally falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope Kai's POV was enjoyable! Remember y'all are amazing, enjoy your day! Leave a kudos or comment?


	5. Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's come to my attention that certain characters are ooc. This is likely because, even though I adore the lunar chronicles, I do not own them so I can't refer to them! If you see anything weird that needs to change, please let me know! Thanks!

Cinder wakes up to her lamp flashing orange, a sign that she needs to get up as soon as possible because she's slept through the first of the more gentle flashing lights she'd programmed as a substitute for an alarm clock.

She almost regrets staying up so late looking through some random boy's tumblr. Almost.

Groaning, she pulls herself up and uses the hair bobble already around her arm to tie her hair back, not caring that the ponytail is probably the messiest one in history.

She stretches on the way to the bathroom, satisfied when her neck and back click. She doesn't spend long freshening up, knowing that Pearl will wake up soon and throw a tantrum if she doesn't get immediate access to the bathroom for her morning beauty routine.

"Move," Pearl grumbles sleepily as she passes Cinder in the hallway.

Cinder rolls her eyes and sidesteps to reach her room.

She changes outfit as she gets back, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday because she'd never bothered – or had enough money – to buy proper nightwear. At least that means less laundry, or at least less of her own laundry in addition to Adri and her step-sisters'.

Avoiding contact with anyone else, she makes her way down to the kitchen, where she hopes Garan will be waiting for her.

And he is.

With a coffee.

Cinder sighs, having wanted to go get it herself, but then remembers that Kai actually goes to school and wouldn't be working so early in the morning anyway, and brightens up considerably.

"I have never seen someone go through so many emotions so quickly," Garan declares, laughing.

"Oh, whatever," Cinder mutters, sipping her coffee.

"You ready?" he asks, ruffling her hair.

She makes a face but smiles at him when he turns his back, following him to his car. Even though she couldn't care less about her hair, even she has to admit that starting the day without putting it up tightly and working in a garage isn't a good combination.

"Can't I drive?" Cinder asks anyway.

She can technically operate a car but he insists that he be the one to drive during rush hours so that they don't get arrested for her not having a licence.

Garan shakes his head. "You know you can't."

"Can I work on the mercedes?" she asks as they climb into the car, fixing their seatbelts.

Even as he starts the car, Garan shoots her that look – the one adults give out when they think they know what the child's motives are and why exactly they're doing whatever they happen to be doing.

"Is it that boy?"

"No!" Cinder replies quickly, scoffing, "He's just a random guy."

Garan hums, clearly not believing her but focusing on the road so they don't crash.

"Maybe?" Cinder offers after a few minutes of silence.

Garan smiles and turns to her. "Should I be worried about you getting mixed in with the wrong crowd?"

Cinder doesn't know if she wants to laugh or punch something so she chooses to frown. "It's not me you should be worried about."

A strangle unease falls over them so she stays quiet, looking out of the window and slouching in her seat as she finishes the coffee.

"Cinder?" Garan asks eventually, sounding remorseful.

"You're leaving again?" Cinder guesses bitterly.

His silence is enough of an answer and Cinder shakes her head. "Why do you even come back?"

By this time, they're at the garage and Garan twists the keys so the engine powers down, turning to her with an unfamiliar expression.

"I come back for you. I was trusted to keep you safe," Garan says.

Cinder sighs, "I am safe."

Garan shakes his head. "There are many different types of safe..."

"And?" Cinder asks, but not rudely.

"I'd just hoped you'd be a better kind of safe," Garan admits.

"I don't..." Cinder shakes her head, confused.

"Never mind," Garan says, now shaking his head.

"Worst comes to worst, I can put those martial arts lessons to use, right?" Cinder laughs, wanting to ease the almost palpable tension between them.

Garan chuckles, nodding, his posture visibly relaxing. Cinder smiles at him and uses two fingers to jokingly salute before getting out of the car.

"Hey, fireball?" Garan calls.

"What?" Cinder turns back, frowning.

"Workshop three." He winks.

She smiles at him despite being annoyed, knowing that he doesn't mean to leave her behind but he doesn't really have a choice.

Cinder half suspects him of being involved in something dangerous but she can never find any evidence for it so, like many times before, she dismisses the thought as she walks through the garage, half-heartedly greeting a few people but ignoring most of them.

Workshop three.

She sighs as she sees the damaged mercedes, unsure of why anyone would want to salvage it instead of simply buying a new one.

With a second sigh, she assesses the damage and gets to work, repairing the smaller things that don't require manual labour because she really doesn't feel like working with anyone else at the moment.

She zones out until there's a small, polite knock on the open door, at which point she stifles a shriek, whacks her head on the top of the door in her rush to leave the car, accidentally turns the windscreen wipers on, and causes water to spray in front of the car, exactly where Kai is standing.

Kai jumps, blinking water out of his eyes as he pushes his hair back. But he doesn't seem to care about his soaking locks, instead focused on how Cinder's rubbing her head with grimace.

"I'm so sorry!" he blurts.

Cinder lets out her third sigh. "It's fine."

"No, I'm awfully sorry! I asked at the front desk and they told me to come down here - which I thought was rather peculiar but it's not my place to question it - and I didn't mean to surprise you or-"

"Kai." Cinder puts her hands on his shoulders.

He stops talking immediately, frozen.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologise." She smiles at him.

He nods, then shivers slightly and slips his blazer off, rolling his shoulders back.

Cinder winces. "Sorry for soaking you."

"That's okay, it was more or less my fault."

She shakes her head. "It wasn't. It was mine. I'm sorry."

She's never apologised so much in her life and she's not sure why she is now.

He grins at her. "Don't worry about it, princess."

Cinder nods, then frowns. "So, what are you doing here?"

Kai's eyes light up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be mad, It's a safe cliffhanger... Hope you liked it! Also, someone on ffn asked about tumblr. If y'all wanna follow my specifically tlc blog (fairly new as i accidentally lost my old fandom blogs - don't ask), it's @smolsassykai (#promo, sorry ;p) Leave a kudos or comment?


	6. Ineptitude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I missed a week, I was so busy that I didn't have any time to sit and write!

"How do you feel about helping me fly a kite?"

Cinder blinks, wondering if she'd heard that correctly.

"How do I feel about what?"

Kai shifts nervously, his hands behind his back. "I, um, recently acquired a kite and I was, uh, wondering if you'd like to help me fly it?"

Cinder pauses, then shakes her head in amusement. Unfortunately, Kai seems to take this the wrong way and his face drops, his smile faltering as he awkwardly coughs, "Of course, you're busy. Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Hey, hey," Cinder says urgently, trying to stop him from walking away, "I didn't say no."

Even though his expression stays doubtful, Kai's eyes light up and he stops edging backwards as if trying to escape the confusion by literally leaving the room. Cinder can't help but hope that his eyes always stay just as bright and he keeps –

She cuts her own thoughts off, shaking her head once again. When Kai bites his lip, Cinder internally curses, knowing that she isn't helping the situation. She almost trips over her own words as she says, "No, no, sorry again! I was just- well, I was thinking, but that doesn't really matter. Uh, I would love to fly your kite with you."

She half expects him to wince at her awkward attempt at an answer but he smiles widely, his dimples sending her mind into a frenzy of adorable overload – something she's never experienced because of a… a boy.

She realises that she's totally missed his question while thinking about his cheek indents so she just nods, hoping that he hadn't asked her to kill the queen or something.

Kai laughs, "You didn't hear a word of that, did you?"

Deciding not to shake her head because of all the trouble it causes earlier, she opts for words: "How could you tell?"

Kai winks. "I know how to recognise someone lost in their own thoughts. Besides, nobody in their right mind would agree to let me dye their hair glittery gold so…"

Somehow, his humour overpowers her embarrassment and she ends up laughing, almost slipping on the water under their feet, which she makes a mental note to clean up later.

"You never know, it might suit me." Cinder chuckles.

"I think your hair is beautiful as it is," Kai says, then his eyes widen as he bites his tongue.

Cinder opens her mouth and closes it a few times before the two of them are saved from their palpable awkwardness by someone walking into the workshop.

"Cinder, do you have the keys to the- oh hello, who are you?" the girl asks, raising her eyebrows.

Cinder glares at the girl, but not in an unkind way. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"The whole intimidation routine."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"I already know him," Cinder sighs, exasperated already.

"Something you're not telling me?" the girl gasps dramatically.

"I was going to…"

"What, after the wedding?"

Cinder groans, rolling her eyes.

"So there is going to be a wedding?"

"Really?"

"This is what you get for not telling me about him." The girl folds her arms accusingly.

"I barely know him!" Cinder argues.

"You just said you already know him!"

"Technically!"

The girl narrows her eyes. "That's not a good explanation; I need details! All the details!"

"I can't give you any if I don't have them in the first place!"

"You must have his name at least!"

Abruptly, Cinder remembers that Kai is still in the room.

She swears under her breath and turns back to see him absently playing with a Rubik's cube, almost immersed in the turning coloured squares.

"Oops," the girl giggles.

"Kai?" Cinder asks.

His head snaps up and he pockets the cube, instantly smiling. "Yeah?"

"Sorry."

Kai cocks his head, as if asking what she's done that needs an apology.

"She means sorry for having a conversation about you over your head," the girl clarifies.

Kai waves a hand. "Not a problem."

"Really?" the girl asks before turning to Cinder, "I like this one."

Cinder groans again, wanting nothing more than to bang her head against the wall. Instead, she asks: "Where do you need the keys to?"

The girl ignores Cinder, instead walking to Kai and holding out her hand.

"I'm Iko."

Kai smiles and shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you, Iko."

Iko raises an inquisitive eyebrow and Kai gasps as her unsaid question dawns on him, "Oh, sorry! I'm Kai."

Iko laughs, then grins at him. "Now that I know your name, I can greet you properly."

Before anyone can blink, Iko throws her arms around Kai and hugs him as tightly as she possibly can. Kai freezes for a solid three seconds but then relaxes and returns the gesture, laughing. The two of them pull away and Iko flicks her blue locks over one shoulder as she turns to Cinder.

Cinder lets out a sigh of relief, half wanting to murder her best friend but half relieved that she approves of Kai as a person, and a friend.

"See? That's the correct response to a hug." Iko's voice is almost a whine as she pouts. "You never do that!"

"Iko…" Cinder's smiling as she rolls her eyes.

"Kai gets it," Iko whispers, crossing her arms again.

"Which keys?" Cinder asks, already walking over to the cabinet.

"Workshop… wait, which one is this?"

"Three," Kai supplies.

"Gotcha. So… Number six then," Iko declares, catching the keys as Cinder throws them over her shoulder.

"Catch you later!" Iko winks before sashaying out of the workshop, twirling the keys around her finger as she goes.

The two of them hear a small clink, a larger thud, the unmistakable sound of people crashing into each other, and an assortment of muffled exclamations, before Iko yells, "Everything's fine!"

"That seems unlikely," Kai mutters with a smile.

"It will be fine once she buys the pizza next dinner night to make up for it." She pauses. "Your kite?"

Kai nods. "How does Saturday sound?"

"Sounds great."

"Oh, and I also have to 'report' the car's repair progress," Kai admits, his air quotes suggesting that he didn't choose that task.

Cinder laughs. "Not much, I'm afraid, the main work starts after the weekend once we get the right replacement parts."

Kai nods. "Thanks."

The two of them wait before both going to ask something at the same time:

"Do you-"

"How do you-"

They both stop, internally groaning at themselves and sheepishly grinning. Kai gestures for Cinder to speak so she nods.

"Do you work today?" she blurts, instead of asking what she'd originally intended.

Kai blinks, slightly shocked. "At the café from the other day?"

"Where else?" Cinder asks, but realises that he might have another job or something.

"No, I only work there every other day," Kai answers.

"Right." Cinder frowns. "So, do you like coffee?"

Kai shrugs. "It's tolerable."

"So you're not a coffee person?"

"Not particularly..."

Before Cinder can ask yet another unnecessary question, Kai blurts his.

"Have you ever tried apple strudel?"

Cinder thinks for a moment. "No?"

Kai nods. "Do you want to?" he waves his hands before continuing, "I know a place not far from here that makes the best ones. Do you want to….?"

"Now?" Cinder asks, instead of replying to his question with a yes or no; apparently, she's more than capable of doing illogical and awkward things.

"If you'd like?"

"Yeah, of course." Cinder smiles. "I should, uh, grab a jacket."

"Good plan." Kai grins at her, and she decides that maybe their communicative ineptitude was worth the look of joy on his face and the sparkle in his eyes.

Once she grabs her jacket, the two of them walk back to the entrance, passing Iko – who rather conspicuously gapes at them – before Cinder hangs her keys up and Kai hold the door open for her with a grin.

As the two of them walk, Cinder starts to wonder what on earth apple strudel is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, sorry for the wait! Leave a kudos or comment?


	7. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a tad late, but it is longer than usual so... (ik ik not a great excuse, enjoy!)

As it turns out, she doesn't get to know what Apple Strudel is.

Kai looks like he's about to bang his head on the wall when they get to the restaurant and find out it's suddenly closed for maintenance. He worries his lip, shifting from side to side as if expecting the ground to eat him as punishment for a slightly awkward situation.

Cinder just laughs. "How about we just go and grab a coffee?"

Kai nods. "Sure, as long as it's not black."

Cinder actually stops walking, wondering how on earth someone can survive without drinking a black coffee every morning. Apparently, she hadn't wondered silently because Kai looks slightly surprised before saying, "With a surprising amount of ease."

"Oh… I didn't mean to…" Cinder groans to herself.

Kai chuckles lightly, "It's okay, I'm not offended."

Relieved that she hadn't insulted the first boy who'd tried to show her a new food on a pretty much official date, Cinder nods and the two of them start walking along the strangely empty path.

"I take it you're a coffee fan then?" Kai asks unnecessarily.

"I take it you're not?"

"I did tell you exactly that back at the workshop," Kai retorts.

Cinder grins, glad that he didn't just shrug and walk away. If there's anything to appreciate in someone who would ask you to fly a kite with them, it's the ability to carry a conversation no matter how close to being rude it becomes.

"Touché, kite boy." Cinder mock salutes.

"Kite boy?" Kai echoes, "Really, Princess?"

Cinder opens her mouth to make a sarcastic remark but she's foiled by the pink that spreads across her face and the small smile playing at her lips.

"Wait, we're here already?" Kai asks incredulously as they reach a café.

"Well, this is a café…"

"I'm not going mad, I don't work at this one. I wasn't aware that there were two such cafés." Kai pushes the door open anyway, gesturing for Cinder to go in before him.

She rolls her eyes but smiles anyway, slipping into the warmth of the small café and letting Kai close the door behind them before starting to walk towards the counter. The place is fairly empty, so she can feel everyone there watching them as they quickly order two cappuccinos, only because they have no idea what they serve here and that seems like the easiest option.

As the two of them settle at the corner table, Cinder exhales, "I hate nosy people."

Kai raises an eyebrow. "Who's being nosy?"

Cinder gestures to the people who'd gone back to their drinks only when the two of them had sat down.

"You'd hate living in my house then," Kai says casually, then pauses, as if wondering why he'd said that.

"Why?" Cinder asks slowly.

Kai shrugs. "My dad… is rather famous… with certain people. We often have company."

Cinder nods even though she doesn't quite get it.

"Two cappuccinos?" the barista calls, apparently too lazy to bring them their drinks.

Kai chuckles and gets up to go collect them, almost tripping over a chair on the journey back. The woman nearest to him chuckles, but it's unkind and judgmental, which for some reason sparks a rage inside of Cinder, one that she wasn't aware she was capable of.

"Are you good?" Cinder asks, taking the drinks from him so they don't spill.

Kai nods, sheepishly clearing his throat. "I'm usually a little more charming than that."

"Oh, charming is overrated-" Cinder bites her lip as she tries to think of something that doesn't sound too awkward- "haven't you heard that kites are the new best thing?"

She takes a small sip of her coffee as Kai beams widely, his eyes somehow brightening. The two of them sip their drinks in unison, Kai making a face and Cinder sighing with relief as the warm liquid eases itself down her throat.

"Why are you drinking it if you don't like it?" Cinder asks, trying her best not to laugh.

"I just-" he makes a face- "feel rude if I-" he blinks awkwardly- "order and then don't drink."

Cinder almost spits out her mouthful of coffee as she watches Kai struggle with his sentence. She does immediately feel bad, but it's too late to stop herself from half coughing – something that's quite embarrassing even if Kai does make an effort to not notice.

"It's raining!" Kai declares excitedly.

Cinder's never seen someone's face light up so quickly, and she's not sure why he's so excited; it's just rain.

"Okay?" she tries her best not to sound sarcastic.

Kai's face falls a little but he smiles. "I just like the rain."

"Why?" she asks curiously; she genuinely does want to know why anyone would like the rain so much that they can forget about coffee.

Kai waits for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders as he shoots her a lopsided grin. "I've spent a lot of time with the rain. We're good friends."

Luckily, they'd both finished with their drinks so it's not a calamity when Cinder stands up and pulls Kai with her. She's not even sure why she does it to be honest, she just feels this urge to make Kai smile and to make his crestfallen look vanish.

Kai almost stumbles as Cinder swerves to dump her cup in the bin – and of course allow him to do the same – but he regains his balance by the time they reach the door, ignoring the strange looks they're receiving because they value each other over some random opinionated strangers.

"You ready, kite boy?" Cinder asks, smirking.

"Anytime, Princess." Kai mimics her tone and she grins, pushing the door open.

Almost immediately, they're hit with a blast of cool breeze and wayward rain. Neither of them are particularly bothered, grinning and stepping into the outside as they share an excited glance.

Kai's running before Cinder can blink, and she's joining him before she can think. The two of them race along the cobbled path, laughing as they twirl under the rain and occasionally crash into each other.

Of course Cinder slips.

Of course she has to be the one to lose her balance in the middle of a laugh. Her shoes slide on the path, through a puddle, and send her flying towards the floor. She would have hit the ground too, had it not been for Kai's reflexes and his hand grabbing her wrist.

"Alright, Princess?" Kai has to half-shout over the pounding rain, and Cinder can still barely hear him over the pounding of her heart.

Whether her heart is racing because she'd almost fallen or because Kai's hands are surprisingly warm on her skin, she can't tell. What she can tell is that the shine in Kai's copper eyes and the way his dimples deepen when she nods are worth the risk of a concussion.

Then, as she lets herself be pulled upright, blinking the rain away from her eyes and watching as Kai tries to push his fringe back so that he can see, Cinder realises that Kai's hand has slipped into hers.

Strangely, she doesn't mind.

Kai opens his mouth – to apologise, she can tell – but Cinder just tightens her grip and smiles softly, watching the way he shyly grins back and loving the way his fingers interlock with hers.

Despite the thudding of rain on cobbled road and despite the wind fiercely raging around them, Cinder can still hear the exhilaration radiating from Kai. She can feel the adrenaline surging in her veins and there's something else, something she can't pinpoint, something she's never quite felt before.

"Ready for round two?" Kai asks softly, Cinder having to simultaneously read his lips to make sure she hears him right.

"Oh, you bet." She grins.

The two of them set off once again, practically giggling as they swing their arms like toddlers and jump into puddles like crazed children, neither of them caring about maturity.

She has to push her hair away from her face when Kai splashes her and she gasps in mock horror, smirking as she kicks water at him in revenge. He laughs and yelps at the same time, closing his eyes as he attempts to dodge. It becomes a routine, to try and drench each other with puddle rain.

By the time the sun's fully set and they're both half cloaked in darkness, they're truly exhausted, giggling childishly. And because Kai had insisted that he walk Cinder home, the two of them lean against her front gate as they recover.

"Thank you," Kai whispers breathlessly.

"What for?" Cinder asks, frowning.

"Letting the rain join our parade."

Cinder laughs, finally unlacing their fingers as she ties her hair up, trying to figure out how she'll explain this one.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," she promises, having to raise her voice over the rain.

She bites her lip as she turns to the front door, feeling bad for Kai, who has to walk all the way home in the pouring rain.

"It's okay, I like the rain," Kai tells her, as if reading her mind.

"Did I say that out loud?" Cinder asks, unsure of whether or not she's going crazy.

"What, you don't think I'm capable of reading expressions?" From anyone else's mouth, it would sound obnoxious and haughty, but Kai's soft smile makes it seem endearing and gentle.

Cinder smiles, wishing more than anything that she could invite him in, but she doesn't want to expose her only friend to Adri and Pearl, knowing that it won't end well. So she simply waves and watches as Kai bows before breaking into a run.

She steps inside with an insanely bright smile on her face, a literal spring in her step, and Kai's laugh echoing in her ears.

She's happy, she realises with a jolt; she's actually happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Have a lovely day *Iko-style hugs you* Leave a kudos or comment?


	8. Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I missed a week, it was a bit hectic! Here we go with another Kai POV to make up for it! (Thanks for 250 hits)

**(Kai POV)**

"Why are you late?"

Kai jumps and straightens as he hears Torin ask his question, then sheepishly clears his throat when he's greeted by the sight of a raised eyebrow, folded arms, and a questioning expression.

"And why are you dripping water everywhere?"

Kai opens his mouth to reply but an answer escapes him, and it takes all his energy to refrain from shrugging in response or utilising the plethora of sass at his disposal.

"Kai…"

"I know, I'm sorry, I just…"

Torin sighs, "It's the garage girl, isn't it?"

Kai shakes his head, but can't answer because his moral compass would probably stab him with guilt for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, Torin can easy take his answer from Kai's lack of one.

"For stars' sake, kid, you don't even know her name."

"I will… soon." Kai pulls his shoes off and slips his coat off. "I couldn't just leave her to walk home alone."

Torin sighs once again. It's something he's been doing way too often. Shaking his head, he just shrugs. "You know I can let you off this time. But you also know you're grounded if you do it again, yeah?"

Kai nods vigorously, grinning. It's not a second later that he's hugging Torin with all his might, and making the man stumble backwards with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Not that he minds; Kai's hugs are, after all, the cosiest of embraces a youth can possibly offer.

"Now, go change and come eat dinner."

"At the same time?" Kai asks, raising an eyebrow, then wincing as Torin lightly slaps the back of his head. "I deserved that."

"Hurry up," Torin laughs, rolling his eyes before going to, presumably, set the table.

Kai does, grinning to himself and quickly getting himself warm and dry, sighing at his rumbling stomach. He might have sacrificed a meal for some time in the rain with the most stunning girl he's ever seen, but his stomach hadn't agreed with that plan.

Torin doesn't get to ask Kai about the car before the food is being attacked, and quickly wolfed down as politely as possible. Shaking his head, Torin starts to eat as well, the two of them letting an acceptable silence rest over them.

"Are you going to explain why you didn't take an umbrella with you?"

"I did," Kai replies, then shakes his head, "I mean, I didn't remember."

"I wasn't aware that you were so forgetful."

"I'm very sorry," Kai says quietly, starting to eat his food again as if avoiding having to answer any more questions; he's not exactly comfortable with lying, even if he is rather decent at it.

"You're banned from the study for a week." Despite seeming reluctant, Torin's order is akin to household law, and Kai frowns.

"But-"

"I know," Torin interrupts.

"I-"

"Perhaps you should have thought of that before misplacing yet another umbrella," Torin says coolly, and Kai can't argue unless he wants to admit that he'd lied, and then also explain the actual whereabouts of the object.

"I understand," Kai says instead, sighing.

Not long after, the two of them finish their meal, Kai washing up and Torin heading to the living room. Fleetingly glancing at the news flashing on their TV screen, Kai mumbles a 'goodnight' and heads upstairs. And, like any other lowkey love-struck teenage boy, Kai logs back onto tumblr so he can talk to the girl from the garage.

- ** _do you have a cold_**

**_-_ ** _No, why?_

_-_ _**was making sure i didn't have to be guilty of anything** _

**_-_ ** _Right…_

_-_ _**full sentences take ages** _

**_-mind if i shorten stuff down_ **

**_-_ ** _As long as it's decipherable…_

_-_ _**gr8** _

**_-_ ** _Wow, numbers as letters?_

_-Why is your idea of abbreviating just reverse algebra?_

_-_ _**how do u type so fast** _

**_-_ ** _Practice?_

_-_ _**wots reverse algebra?** _

**_-_ ** _Sorry?_

_-Oh_

_-It's not a real thing… that was a joke…_

_-_ _**i knew that** _

**_-gtg kite boy gdnite_ **

**_-_ ** _Night, Princess._

Kai sighs, reblogging only a few posts before getting tired and sinking into his duvet, closing his eyes before he can even think about brushing his teeth.

Which probably explains why he wakes up so early, at quarter to five in the morning. As someone who's used to only sleeping a routine seven hours per night, he finds it almost physically impossible to fall back asleep once awake. With going to the study so he can read or research out of the option, Kai decides to get ready early and work an extra shift at the café.

It doesn't take him more than half an hour to assemble his school bag, his uniform neatly folded inside so he can quickly change into it after his shift, and grabs an apple for breakfast. He leaves a note for Torin before leaving, then quickly walks to the café in the darkness of a diminishing night.

"Kai? Dude, why on earth would you voluntarily work this shift?" Spencer asks him as soon as he dumps his stuff and grabs a waistcoat.

Kai grins. "Good morning to you too."

Spencer waves a hand, handing Kai one of the orders so the two can settle into their complicated yet perfectly efficient rhythm.

The two of them work methodically until Spencer's eyes start drooping, at which point Kai practically scolds him into ending his shift early. He might be against arguments and violence, but Kai is admirably persuasive when he's trying to make someone prioritise their health.

"Thanks, Kai," Spencer says as the two exchange a hug, then chuckles lightly, "Catch you later?"

"Of course."

Kai exhales as the other boy leaves, leaning against the counter for a moment and thanking stars that most people don't tend to wake up early; he's not sure if he could handle a busy shift by himself, without the practical and moral support of Spencer backing him up.

Two and a half of his three shift hours have already passed when a familiar face walks into the café.

"Can I have a black coff- Kai?" The mechanic girl asks, apparently shocked. She then immediately goes pink, as if regretting her choice of oversized shirt and old jeans.

"Hey, Princess. You're up early."

"No, I'm not. But you look like you were."

"Maybe?" Kai can't help but sheepishly grin under the power of a skeptically raised eyebrow.

The girl smiles. "So, my black coffee?"

He ponders for a minute, then decides to try and finally figure out the girl's name. "Who should I make it out to?"

The mechanic girl laughs, "You can just use my regular old name, I guess."

Kai imagines whacking his head on a desk but outwardly smiles. "And which one would that be, Princess?"

The girl smiles again, her eyes sparkling with sly curiosity. "Surely you know my name?"

"I wouldn't want to spell it wrong," Kai says, biting his lip to stop himself from messing the whole situation up.

The girl's eyes widen in shock for a minute before she frowns, then grins again. "I think you're the first barista to care."

Kai shrugs. "Names are important."

"Fair enough. It's C – I – N – D – E – R."

"Thanks, Princess." Kai winks, sighing in relief as she goes to sit down and he starts the coffee machine, almost forgetting her order as he silently cheers to himself for achieving this one thing.

"One black coffee for the Cinder," Kai announces, placing the cup in front of her.

She laughs, a bright sound in the faint light of an imminent sunrise, and tips her cup towards him. "Cheers, kite boy."

"Kite boy?"

Cinder nods. "I'm keeping that name and no amount of complaining can stop me."

Kai makes a face but doesn't complain; the nickname isn't wildly different from his own name after all.

"Bye, kite boy," Cinder calls as she opens the door to leave, her hair gently lifted up by the morning breeze, then leaves before Kai has a chance to reply.

He doesn't mind, simply content in finally knowing her name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Leave a kudos or comment?


	9. Realisation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being a tad late. Thanks to anyone still reading!

Cinder has to stifle a gasp as she sees Iko lazily leaning against her table, casually inspecting her nails as if she hadn't been lying in wait for who knows how long.

"You know, there're plenty other coffee places…" she comments, finally looking up.

"The coffee tastes better there though." Cinder argues.

Iko raises an eyebrow. "Your coffee probably gets cold before you actually get back here."

"I like the exercise."

"Cinder…"

"Iko…"

"You cannot lie to me. There must be some other reason you keep going there for coffee. What, do you have a thing for the barista?" Iko jokes.

When Cinder stays silent, she gasps and her jaw falls slack. "No way…"

Cinder shrugs, trying not to think too much about Kai and give it away.

"Oh my stars. Is it Kai?" Iko asks, sounding very much like an overexcited mother who's just realised something about her favourite child.

"No!"

Iko cackles gleefully and rubs her hands together. "Denial!"

Of course, Cinder can't argue with her at that. She knows she's in denial and she knows Iko is absolutely right; of course she has a thing for the barista, how can she not with his perfect-

"Do you have a date?!"

"I think you're mistaking me for the calendar," Cinder snaps, but it's not because she's mad. It's more because Iko had interrupted her train of thought, and any train involving Kai is one she's happy to board - and never leave.

"Oh, you do, don't you?" Iko grins like a hyper detective.

Cinder shakes her head but she can't prevent the small that plays on her lips and the blush that spreads across her cheeks like a pastel, love-induced wildfire.

"Busted!" Iko exclaims triumphantly, "You've so got a date with Kai, haven't you?"

"Maybe…" Cinder concedes.

"Please tell me he isn't taking you to a restaurant."

"Not unless you know of one that allows kite flying," Cinder laughs.

Iko seems to pause. Quite literally. She opens her mouth to say something but then changes her mind and her eyes widen as she considers the statement. It takes her a solid minute to figure out how to function, at which point she flails her arms and smiles slyly.

"He's taking you to fly a kite?"

"He will be if you let me finish up, Iko!" Cinder rolls her eyes as she flicks through the inventory, trying to remember if she'd missed anything last time.

"You know, what, I approve of this guy," Iko decides, "I approve of him very much."

"Okay, thanks…" Cinder replies absently, already rooting through the drawer to try and find the keys for the latest car that'd been driven in earlier.

"Take care, Cinder," Iko says gently, and Cinder stops to gratefully nod at her.

A shared smile later, Iko waves and saunters out of the workshop to visit the café across the street – probably to see the same waitress as usual, but who was Cinder to judge? After all, she does the same thing for the barista in a different café…

"Cinder, you're here?" Zac asks in shock.

Cinder looks up, catching sight of a very bewildered Zac. "Uh… where else would I be?"

"Didn't you go with Garan?"

"Go? Go where?" Cinder inquires, extremely confused.

Zac almost trips over his shoelace, then steadies himself, before saying, "To the airport. He's leaving. I thought you'd have wanted to go…"

"He what?" Cinder asks numbly, still not getting it.

Zac shifts nervously. "I'm sorry, I thought he'd have told you…"

Cinder blinks; Garan had left without telling her? Of course, he'd told her he would have to go soon but she'd never thought that he'd actually leave without a 'goodbye' or a 'good luck' at least.

"Are you sure he's already left?"

"Unless he has a twin…" Zac laughs, but he still looks incredibly awkward.

"No, he doesn't. Thanks for telling me," Cinder mutters before realising that Adri would be expecting her back home if Garan was already gone, "Oh no. Later!"

She runs.

Her feet physically hurt by the time she gets home, having sprinted the whole way and ignored the burning in her lungs. She's sweating and breathless as Adri opens the door with a patronising frown on her face.

"You're late."

"I… I didn't… know…. he'd gone," Cinder explains between pants.

"It's your job to know."

"I'm sorry?" Cinder can't help the question in her voice because there's no way she could have known. If it hadn't been for Zac, she wouldn't have found out until it was time to close up.

"Don't paint yourself the victim. You know the rules."

Cinder knows what's coming next and while she usually couldn't care less, she actually has something to do this weekend: she has a date.

"Please, I-"

"No. There's a list of chores in the kitchen. I expect them all complete. And… go shower, but don't use the hot water; Pearl needs that for her meditative bath later."

Cinder lets her jaw fall open as Adri turns around, and imagines herself punching a wall to try and calm down. She considers making a complaint against the person who'd suggesting punching stuff to calm down, then realises that she'd told herself that and makes a note to ask Iko in the future.

"Oh and you're banned from that rubbish computer of yours," Adri adds as if doing chores all weekend wasn't bad enough.

She doesn't care... until she does. She couldn't care less about being online until she realises that the computer is her only way of communicating with Kai. It's her only way to tell him she's sorry and it's her only way to even chat with him.

"What, why?" Cinder asks softly, her fists clenched and her heart dropping.

Adri just smirks. "It might distract you from your work."

"I hate you…" Cinder mutters under her breath, then pushes her hair back and sighs.

There's not much she can do to protest. Not unless she wants to be on makeshift house arrest long enough for Kai to think she'd moved country or something. If only Garan had given her some warning before leaving…

As a small act of rebellion, she showers with warm water.

Still, that doesn't help her work out how to tell Kai she's not standing him up. She's not one to want things but she does want Kai to have faith in her, even if that is rather selfish.

It's strange; she's only been messaging him goodnight for a few days and yet it seems like she doesn't know how to function without that simple interaction. It's as if the small conversations had brought her a closure she didn't know she needed and now she was craving them.

Cinder sighs as her head hits the pillow and her feet flop onto the mattress. She hopes, she hopes more than anything that Kai will forgive her once she's explained if she can figure out how to tell him why she was stuck at home. Well, stuck inside. She's not sure about whether or not this place, filled with lists of chores and a lack of compassion, can be called home.

She's not sure if she deserves to have a home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a kudos or comment?


	10. Bag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone who's stuck with this!

"Oh for star's sake!" Cinder groans as she trips over something.

"Hey, watch it!" Pearl snaps, frowning.

"Leave her alone, Pearl," Peony mutters, but she's somehow powerful enough to make her sister huff and stalk downstairs.

"Thanks," Cinder says as she stretches her ankles, trying to get rid of the tension in her muscles.

"Do you, um, do you want some help?" Peony asks shyly.

Cinder pauses, then shakes her head. "I'm fine."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Before Cinder can open her mouth to protest, Peony has picked up the box she'd dropped and secured the lid, making sure it won't open again until she wants it to, and the two of them are walking side by side to the laundry room.

"Thanks." Cinder tries her best at a smile.

It must work because Peony grins. "Do you want anything else?"

"No, I'm good. But thanks," Cinder mutters, already throwing the boxes on the shelf, albeit neatly.

It's not that she really cares about the fate of the box, but she does care about her fate, and the last thing she needs is an extended house arrest. Especially when it would prevent her from seeing a certain, copper-eyed barista.

"Peony! Get in here!" Adri yells from somewhere, apparently expecting Peony to recognise the room she's in with absolutely no information whatsoever.

Cinder can't avoid sighing to herself as she slides to the floor in the laundry room, sinking down so that she can rest her head on her knees and have her back to the door. She shuts her eyes, the warmth of her eyelids acting as a rather tiny and almost useless source of warmth.

She glances at the clock, her eyes stinging with regret as she realises where she'd be if Garan had warned her: she'd be flying a kite with Kai. She knows, she knows that mournful yearning and wishful thinking don't get you anywhere - and most often do exactly the opposite - but how could anyone not daydream about the bubbly barista who might as well be royalty?

"I can't-" Cinder stops herself from listing all the things she can't tolerate as she pushes herself upwards, sighing aloud as she stretches because she can't hold it in. "Never mind. I kind of have no choice. Even if I would rather not be here."

"Are you talking to someone?" Peony asks from behind her.

Cinder jumps, stifling a string of curses. "Why are you here?"

"I live here?" Peony offers, but she's clearly joking. "I, um, there was this guy at the door, and I suppose he was for you."

"What makes you say that?" Cinder asks coolly, her heart secretly beating with hope.

"Pearl hates all boys and I'm not allowed guy friends over," Peony explains, "and I highly doubt he was here for Mother."

Cinder snorts to herself, but she frowns again when she thinks of something. "Was he, uh, was he... sad?"

Peony smiles softly. "Yes."

"Oh."

"But I don't think he was angry sad. It was more like confused sad. Anyway, he left something for you!"

Until then, Cinder's heart had been sinking deeper and deeper into hatred but with those five words, her aching organ learned how to rise up and float once more.

"Here. I'll leave you to open it..." Peony sends her a final reassuring smile before shuffling out of the room and leaving Cinder with the paper bag.

And Cinder discovers she hadn't been imaging that distinct aroma of coffee.

He'd sent coffee for her. He'd actually sent a warm beverage from his cafe for her. A strange, caramel-topped black coffee with a single white marshmallow on top. She grins at the beverage and takes a small sip, shutting her eyes as the glorious taste fills her mouth and soothes her throat, as well as her unease.

As she goes to crumple the bag and stuff it in the depths of her pocket so that Adri would never find it, she realises that the paper bag hadn't contained only the single cup of coffee. Wrapped in an insanely large amount of tissue paper is some kind of soft edible item. Carefully, she unwraps the food and grins when she recognises it.

A cinnamon roll.

Of course he'd send her a cinnamon roll, of course he would. Cinder can't wipe the smile off her face as she carefully nibbles at it, finishing it just before the washing machine - that also acts as a dryer - she'd loaded starts beeping.

Rolling her eyes at the clueless machine, she quickly finishes dumping the clothes into either an ironing basket or the to-be-folded box. Once done, she finishes her coffee and dumps that in the bin, knowing that it'll be hidden by the countless other coffee cups. And Cinder thanks her lucky stars that she hadn't thrown away the bag because otherwise, she might have missed the small piece of paper that flutters out and falls to the floor.

"What...?"

Scanning the calligraphic writing, Cinder's heart swims in an ocean of emotion; Kai's explained that he's sorry if he'd made the wrong impression and he'd like for them to keep in contact even if Cinder didn't want to fly kites, but he was absolutely okay with giving her privacy and backing off totally.

"You're supposed to be mad at me..." Cinder whispers to the paper, knowing that a processed tree can't make up for the barista, but it can make a reasonable substitute in desperate times.

She just wishes she had a way to tell him that it isn't his fault, and preferably a way to tell him before the end of the weekend.

She groans in frustration as she pockets the letter and picks up the to-be-folded box, carrying it to the other room so it's easier for her to sort through the clothes and see what belongs to who. All day, she can feel the paper as if it were red hot against her skin, happiness and guilt spreading like an argument through her mind.

At one point, she goes to throw away the bag and then decides against it when she sees how Kai's neatly written her name on it with a small heart, and a ridiculously smiley smile surrounded by doodles as if Kai hadn't realised what he was doing. Cinder decides to keep the bag for as long as possible, loving how it smells of coffee and cinnamon and compassion.

Naturally, she's so exhausted by the time she's finished that she can't even plan a way to sneak out. She doesn't even change before flopping onto her head, sighing and yawning as she lets her eyelids droop. She's already thinking about what to tell Kai by the time she remembers to throw something at the light switch to switch the darkness on, and she's half hoping to figure something out the next day.

Despite everything, she sleeps contently, knowing that Kai isn't annoyed at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was a bit satisfying after the last chapter! Leave a kudos or comment?


	11. Knock

There's something extremely irritating about an alarm clock.

As much as you want to hate the device and smash it to pieces, a small part of you knows that you can't blame the machine because you're the one that told it to annoy you in the first place.

And that paradox of hatred is exactly why Cinder glares at the wall for an entire two and a half minutes before she sighs and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, reluctantly attempting to wake herself up as quickly as possible.

Of course, she spares a minute for holding her grudge against Garan for leaving with no warning and making her miss her date in the first place, but no more than a minute because something tells her there must have been a reason, there had to have been a reason, there's no way there wasn't a perfectly reasonable explanation.

She's awake and alert by the time she's showered and twisted her hair into a ponytail, not bothering to change outfit because it's comfortable and there's no point in wearing a new outfit only for it to get covered in paint or dust or whatever else Adri's chores entail.

But first, food.

Thankfully, she's had enough practice at being quick to assemble a breakfast before Adri and Pearl come downstairs and demand one. Peony never seems to mind but Cinder knows Adri will complain on behalf of her for the sake of making them both feel guilty.

She's also quickly eaten her own breakfast – a breakfast bar, an apple, and all that's left over from the cinnamon roll Kai had sent her, which admittedly isn't very much at all.

"Oh, well, would you look at that. You've finally managed to do something right," Adri says, the statement acting as a rather strange compliment.

Cinder just shrugs, stifling a laugh when Peony pulls a face from behind her sister and subtly finishes swallowing the cinnamon roll in her mouth.

"Spider!" Pearl yells, jumping up onto the table.

Cinder can't stop her eyes from rolling in exasperation. Why do people assume that yelling and stepping onto furniture will solve their problems? It's not like spiders can't climb at all, they have eight legs and webs at their disposal, for stars' sake.

Nevertheless, she carefully picks the spider up in a tissue and chucks it outside, pretending to be totally okay with a shrieking girl so early in the morning.

"Thanks, Cinder!" Peony chirps happily, a grateful smile blessing her expression.

Adri coughs as if she's had enough of being nice for one day even though she wasn't the one being nice, and loudly chews her piece of toast.

"I thought you said bread in the morning was unhealthy?" Pearl asks.

"For a growing girl like you, it is."

"Common sense, Pearl!" Peony adds, giggling.

Cinder can't help being amused herself but makes sure her laughter is silent as she waits for the three of them to finish eating.

When they do, she washes up as Adri sticks a 'new and improved' list of chores on the fridge door and practically orders the girls to get ready for their dance classes – one thing Cinder's glad she's not allowed to do because the very thought of having to pointlessly move her limbs in such a ridiculous pattern makes her shudder and she can't imagine actually having to do such a thing, especially when there are costumes involved.

"Make sure these are done by the time we get back."

"When are you getting back?" Cinder asks.

"Half seven."

"Half seven?" Cinder echoes, glancing at the clock, which reads 9 am.

Adri just sighs and points to the list before walking out. Peony pokes her head back into the room as soon as her mother has gone and whispers. "We have rehearsals, our classes, a different show each, and then the after-party, which ends up in us going to another party at someone's house."

"Oh… Thanks." Cinder frowns to herself, wondering how someone can tolerate such hassle once every season.

"I'm just hoping he's there…" Peony admits dreamily.

"Who?" Cinder asks.

"I don't know his name, but we all know he's the sweetest, dreamiest dancer ever."

"You have a crush?" Cinder asks, smiling.

"No!" A pause. "Maybe…"

Cinder laughs. "Don't worry, I won't tell if you don't tell."

Peony giggles to herself, then nods solemnly. "Deal."

The two of them salute each other before Cinder rolls her sleeves up and Peony skips up the stairs to get changed for her day of dance-related activities.

"Wash the freezer?" Cinder asks the list as if the paper could somehow be sentient, and goes to inspect said machine, groaning when she sees the layers of ice and what looks like paint at the bottom, "Why would you put paint in a freezer?"

She's just about aware of the others leaving but she pays no attention to it, more focused on trying not to get freezer ice all over her skin. She hears Peony whisper a faint 'good luck' before the door locks and she allows herself to groan, but not for long.

After all, she doesn't want to be stuck in this miserable place for any longer than the weekend and she needs to figure out where Adri's hidden her computer so she knows where to look in the future when such a situation occurs again – something that's sadly very possible.

Cinder finds herself humming, not to the tune of a song or a rhyme or anything like that, but to the sound of what she imagines would make a good testament to her annoyance.

Surprisingly, the freezer takes next to no time, and she's done with it before her hands get too cold to be warmed up by a little bit of hot tap water. It's a good thing Adri had forgotten to turn the boiler off like she does every day, something that annoys Cinder to no end but it's the one thing she can tolerate because she knows old habits die hard.

More than half the list is finished by the time she takes a break for lunch, which logically leaves her with plenty of time to search for her confiscated laptop. Only because she doesn't want to waste time walking to a café for coffee, she makes one with the old, barely used machine they have lying around and makes herself a couple of sandwiches with the pieces of bread that Adri dislikes and doesn't care about her eating.

She's about to start finishing the second half of the list when there's a knock at the door.

Cinder ignores it, figuring that it's a neighbour or something; pretentious neighbours are the last people she wants to deal with – aside from Adri and Pearl, of course. The person knocks twice more, apparently determined to be answered, before there's silence once again.

Shaking her head with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, Cinder starts heading up the stairs, aiming to find the stuff needed from the attic before taking another break to find her laptop.

Her plan works for a bit and she's already started humming the tune to a song that's yet to exist when there's another knock.

This time, it's at the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope anyone still reading likes this! Leave a kudos or comment?


	12. Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this was going to be posted a little later as a bigger chapter but y'all demanded an update so here you go! Sorry the last chapter wasn't great, and sorry in advance for this one eek...

**(Kai POV)**

 

Kai jumps as Cinder suspiciously glares out of the window, then sheepishly grins, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry!" he says, knowing that she can't hear him.

He can't tell if she's grinning or glowering at him but she's disappeared before he can work it out. Being the awkward person he is, he tries to walk backwards away from the window but trips over his shoelace, stumbles a metre or so, flails just as Cinder comes outside, and lands on a pile of leaves.

Or rather, sinks into the pile of leaves.

"Kai!" he hears Cinder exclaim, and he can safely say he's never heard anyone say his name with such a soft and adorably concerned tone.

Inhaling the scent of damp, dying leaves, he coughs and sits up, only for his head to make a beeline for Cinder's forehead. The two of them yelp and Kai falls back into the leaves again and Cinder jerks backwards, rubbing her head.

"I'm so sorry!" Kai immediately blurts, "I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Cinder, to his surprise, just giggles.

"What on earth are you wearing?" she says, which he figures is her way of saying she forgives him.

"What, aside from these fashionable leaves?" Kai asks, grinning in relief.

She holds out a hand, letting him use her as a ballast to pull himself up. Brushing off any leaves, he thanks her with a breathless smile. Cinder clearly appreciates the gratitude because her cheeks change colour to almost match the leaves floating on the floor.

"You look like someone whose tent has collapsed on them," Cinder comments.

Kai glances down at his faded grey jeans and extremely oversized camouflage hoodie, internally admitting that she's not wrong. But, for the sake of staying loyal to Spencer - who'd quickly lent him the outfit in the first place - he shakes his head and tries to think of something Spencer would be proud to hear him say.

"It's much warmer and a whole lot more comfortable."

Cinder raises an eyebrow. Kai opens his mouth to protest at the clear doubt in her gaze but, before he can even start to articulate an argument, Cinder's reaching out and he's sinking back under the pile of leaves, spitting out a leaf and stifling a groan.

He hears Cinder awkwardly talking to someone, someone who clearly dislikes every kind of humanity, and figures that he was being hidden, rather than randomly pushed for the sake of it. Trying his best not to even breathe too heavily, he shuts his eyes, not liking the idea of getting leaf debris in them; the last thing he needs is to lose his vision before he can help to make Cinder happy.

It's a minute and a cramp later when he hears Cinder sigh with relief and let him know that it's safe to surface.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't let her see you."

"I understand," Kai replies, even though he doesn't.

Cinder sends him an amused smile and brushes the leaves off him. Kai goes completely still as she does, unsure of how he's meant to react. He literally doesn't move until Cinder reaches to pick a leaf out of his hair, somehow failing spectacularly and accidentally poking his eye, at which point he blinks and flinches backwards as a reflex.

"Oh flat tires, I'm so sorry!" Cinder sounds horrified, but Kai shakes his head, trying to blink away the stinging feeling.

"I can still see," he says softly.

Cinder nods, albeit guiltily, "You should probably come inside before anyone else walks by."

"Good plan," Kai mumbles, following as she leads him to the back of the house.

He does briefly wonder why they're climbing in through a broken window, but he doesn't ask, figuring that Cinder would have a reason for avoiding doors.

"Um," Kai starts, "I'm sorry if I was too forward... You know, um, inviting you to fly my kite?"

Cinder pauses and turns to him, smiling. "You weren't; I was- I am, uh, grounded."

Kai's eyebrows fly under his floppy fringe as he tries to hide his confusion. Of course, it doesn't exactly work as Cinder sighs, then shakes her head as if to say it's not something worth explaining.

"I was meant to be back from work, and, well, I wasn't."

"Oh..." Kai knows his facial expression is a strange mixture of relieved and confused, but Cinder chooses to ignore both of those, instead deciding to ask the obvious question.

"What are you doing here?"

Kai blanches for a second, then chuckles a little, running a hand through his silky hair. "I, um, just wanted to see if you were okay..."

"What did you do, get advice from Iko?" Cinder rolls her eyes.

Kai just shrugs but he doesn't know what to feel. It's hard, he decides, to unravel someone like Cinder. Mechanics spend so long taking apart and putting machines back together that they forget humans can be unravelled too. It's a shame because he's not blind and he knows there are some things that a need a little touch of golden glue to put back together in Cinder's routine.

Instead of saying all this out loud, he coughs, "No, actually, I just had a break and thought I'd come to apologise in person."

Cinder starts to nods, but then something seems to dawn in her mind and she shakes her head instead. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"About which part?" Kai asks, bemused.

"Apologising in person?"

Kai nods. "Yeah, I felt bad about not coming myself yesterday."

"Wait, that wasn't you?"

"We don't look alike, how did you confuse us?" Kai asks, mentally once again comparing himself to Spencer just in case they could have been mistaken for each other; he doesn't think they're really that similar.

Her eyebrows furrowing, she glances at him in confusion. "I didn't answer the door... I just assumed it was you..."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't come myself. Anyway, I'm not sure it matters too much, does it?"

"Guess not," Cinder replies, then leads Kai into the kitchen. "Oh, the garage hasn't had the parts delivered for your Mercedes yet."

"That's okay, it's only a car," he says as he leans on the door.

"Only a car?" Cinder echoes and Kai can't help feeling as if he's committed a crime or something.

"Mhm?"

"You're the opposite of most dudes, you know?" Cinder tells him but he can't categorise the comment into either a good or a bad thing.

"My apologies," Kai mumbles, "I meant: that's okay, it's only a Mercedes-Benz s-class selenite grey magno night edition."

He can see Cinder's cheek flare up and almost feels bad, but can't help admitting that it looks extremely cute. He can only hope that she doesn't take him to be vain and condescending, but rather as someone she doesn't have to hide her true self from. He hopes that they can try again next weekend, or maybe he can 'check on the car' after school during the week...

Hopefully, they'll be able to see each other soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: I'm doing a few secret santa fic exchanges and things so updates will probably take a while because those have strict deadlines! Sorry... Leave a kudos or comment?


	13. Laundry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone who's miraculously still around, my deepest apologies for the insane wait!! And sorry this chapter isn't that good, I didn't have time to proof-read!

Cinder blinks herself out of her sheepish daze and coughs. "Do you want something to eat?"

Kai shakes his head. "I'm good, thank you."

At his expression of gratitude, something else dawns on Cinder. "Oh, thank you for the cinnamon roll and the coffee! I don't think I ever said... They were lovely!"

The smile Kai sends her is so beautiful, Cinder almost stops breathing. Luckily, he doesn't mind the pause in their conversation and glances at her arm instead. "What happened?"

"What?" Cinder asks, then glances down to see the pinkish smudge on her skin. "Oh, I burned it while making... I can't remember what I was making... but it's definitely a burn."

The two of them share an awkward silence for as long as it takes the washing machine to finish its cycle, at which point they both jump at its high-pitched beeping. Cinder recovers before Kai's finished stumbling, and she moves past Kai to grab a clothes' basket without really thinking about it. To her surprise, Kai's opening the door to silence the screaming machine when she turns around.

"I-"

"I might as well help, right?" Kai asks. As much as Cinder wants to thank him, she can't think of anything other than how excited Iko would be if she could see them now. She must have made a face because Kai raises an eyebrow at her and asks, "What, are males not allowed to possess domestic skills?"

Cinder laughs instead of making a sarcastic comment back like she'd wanted to. Apparently, even her unleashed - previously bottled - wit isn't a strong enough match for Kai's sass. Especially when his sass is aimed at her.

"Just not used to the help, I guess." Cinder shrugs.

Kai frowns and Cinder mentally curses herself for saying it but, thankfully, he just smiles at her. "Better get used to it as long as I'm around, princess."

There's an infinite number of replies she could give, a crazy number of ways to express her gratitude, an insane range of ways to respond to something like that, but she can't bring herself to let down her walls enough to express anything so she raises an eyebrow. "Right, because you're totally skilled at mechanics and totally could have fixed your car all by yourself..."

"Hey, my broken car is the only reason we're unloading your washing machine together." Kai blinks at himself. "There's a sentence I never thought I would say..."

"I'm sorry?" Cinder offers.

Kai just shakes his head but then loses the balance of his crouch position and headbutts the washing machine, immediately cursing in ice-cream flavours before rubbing his head. Cinder finds herself giggling at his clumsiness, then claps a hand over her mouth to try and stop the sound because she's not used to hearing it emerge from her own throat.

"Aw, don't do that," Kai tells her, his expression softer than the adoring look in his eyes and his eyes brighter than the sun peering at them through the windows.

"Do what?"

Kai's tan skin flushes a pastel pink as he seems to realise he'd said that out loud. He stares at her for a moment before exhaling slowly, then clearing his throat. "I meant, um, don't- don't cover up your laughter. It's, uh, it's really cute."

If Cinder was a machine, she would have overheated and potentially broken down. Instead of breaking down, she drops the basket she was holding, before her reflexes kick in and she fumbles with it before catching it again, her finger almost twisting back in the process. She doesn't mind the ache; the temporary pain is much better than the alternative of further embarrassment, in her opinion.

"Sorry," Kai whispers, pushing his hair back. Not that the action is useful because it simply flops back as soon as he lets go of it. The sight only makes Cinder's heart melt more, and she has to physically stop her face from breaking out into the curviest smile in all of history, choosing to kneel down beside him and help pull out the damp clothes.

"Is that...?" Kai pauses. "Is that dress yours?"

Cinder follows his gaze before shaking her head even though she already knows nothing in there is hers.

"Okay. That's good, who wears a carrot-themed evening gown? You'd have to be crazy..."

There's something about Kai thinking the people she despises are unstylish that gives her some sort of happiness. Even though she does feel guilty for thinking so selfishly, she can't hold back her excitement at having an ally in the world. She loves that he doesn't side with them but it scares her; she doesn't want them to meet him or even know about him because he's the one person she's fully chosen to associate with and she doesn't want that taken away from her. She wants to keep Kai away from her makeshift family because she doesn't want those two parts of her lives merging but she's afraid that isn't possible, and she's never been so afraid in her life. What is it about this boy, she asks herself, that causes her to be like this?

"You okay?" Kai asks softly; Cinder blinks.

"Flying," she replies, smiling as best as she can.

The two of them finish hanging the clothes up on the drying racks in record time and, like never before, she actually has fun doing it. It's probably due to Kai narrating his opinions on the outfits as if they were in a fashion programme, Cinder admits to herself, and she knows talking to the boy who'd crashed into her glass door was a good idea.

"I have to, uh, I have to get back, I'm sorry, I-"

Cinder cuts him off with a hug.

He gasps into the embrace before tentatively placing his hands on her back in return and relaxing a little. She smiles as the two of them share the same air for almost half a minute, both of them accepting the action as something they'd wanted but something they hadn't wanted to ask for. And the action itself feels warm, it feels safe, it feels like they're in a bubble that can't be pierced by even the sharpest of piercing tools.

"I'm sorry I made you unload unfashionable clothes instead of doing something fun," Cinder whispers.

Kai only sends her a dazzling smile. "A wise and crazy man one said that if you can't do domestic chores with your friend, you shouldn't go on a date with them the following weekend."

"Who said that?" Cinder asks, frowning and laughing at the same time. And then she realises... "Wait, did you just ask me out on a date?"

The way Kai's face lights up in relief is answer enough. She would have gone on a date with him anyway but the crinkles around his eyes and the dimples shining under the artificial light of a kitchen make her immediately nod her head. It's not regrettable because he winks at her, happiness carved into his smile. "I suppose we should refrain from planning in advance and see where the stars lead us."

"Alright, kite boy. Sounds like a plan." Cinder hears herself say it but she's too excited to really acknowledge or think about it.

As much as she wants to, she can't open the back door in fear of leaving evidence that will only result in further grounding; she has to hope Kai doesn't mind and ask him to climb out of the window once again. Luckily, he doesn't mind and practically dives out before saluting her and sprinting down the curved road until she can't hear his footsteps anymore, only the sound of his soul ringing in her mind like an endless melody.

Long after he's gone and she's resumed her list of tasks, her eyes widen and her lips curve up as it dawns on her that he'd called them friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks if you're reading!! Leave a kudos or comment?


	14. Confidant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7000 people have read this on FFN, how crazy??? Thanks if you're reading!! Happy international women's day to anyone who that applies to! It was mario day yesterday so let's-a-go...

Hours later, she's still reeling from the happiness of having a friend. A friend aside from Iko, of course, because to cancel Iko out would probably earn her a punch and a wall of silence for at least a month. It's a satisfying feeling, she thinks, to make a friend who truly likes you for you and wants to spend time with you because they find it enjoyable, not because they have to tolerate you for the sake of succeeding in some aspect of life. She likes the feeling.

Cinder has no idea what to think when the door groans under the force of someone pushing on it without unlocking it first.

She doesn't get time to think either because of Peony bursting in with a crazily euphoric shine in her eyes. Peony waits until Adri has closed the door behind her and glared at Cinder for no particular reason other than her existence before grabbing Cinder's hand and pulling her up the stairs, into her room, then shutting he door behind her so Pearl can't follow.

"What is it? What do you need?" Cinder asks urgently, wondering what could have happened.

Peony cocks her head before sighing and sitting on her bed, beckoning for Cinder to do the same. Not wanting to disappoint, Cinder just sits opposite her, raising an eyebrow when Peony crosses her legs and places her elbows on her knees, leaning forwards with a beam on her face, one that suggests Cinder can relax a little.

"Guess what?"

"What?" Cinder humours her.

"I have a date!" Peony whispers before she repeats the phrase a few times, practically squealing by the fourth time, which happens to be when the statement truly sinks in for Cinder.

"You have a what?" Cinder asks, frowning. "I thought you weren't allowed?"

Peony rolls her eyes. "I'm not, but mother just thinks we're going to be practising for the show!"

Her fluctuating morals satisfied, Cinder grins. "Well then, I'm assuming you need a confidant?"

Giggling, Peony nods. "You won't tell, will you?"

"Do you even know what a confidant is?"

"No," Peony giggles, "but I'm hoping it means you won't tell."

"Of course I won't," Cinder replies and it's partly true. She won't tell Adri or Pearl but it's likely to come up with Iko - there's nothing about relationships that can be hidden from that girl.

"He asked me out!" Peony squeals, "And he's the most beautiful boy in all of existence."

Cinder disagrees because there's a certain barista already holding that title in her mind. Kai's sassy remarks about the atrocious pieces of clothing they'd washed together float at the front of her memory and she suppresses a smile, literally blinking herself out of her daze and trying to pretend she hadn't zoned out.

"-nd he has the most cutest black hair I just want to mess it up and everything and-" Peony pauses her rant only to breathe, her face red with both excitement and lack of oxygen.

Cinder laughs. "So, when's the date?"

After catching her breath, Peony grins. "At the weekend."

"You have to wait a whole week?" Cinder raises her eyebrows. "I'm not sure that's possible for you."

Peony just shrugs and Cinder wonders if she herself looks like that to Iko. The way Iko describes it, Cinder sounds like a lovestruck idiot. She'd always thought that to be ridiculous but now, looking at Peony giggling like she's been attacked with laughing gas, she wonders if Iko had been more accurate than Cinder had assumed.

"So, how do you know he's, you know, the one?" Cinder asks, wiggling her fingers and making a face.

Peony smiles lazily. "He just... You should see him dance, it's like... It's like the world could stop but he would go on..."

Cinder finds herself smiling. "Mine's like that too," she realises.

"He dances?"

"No- Well, I don't know-" Cinder stops herself as she makes a mental note to ask him later- "But he seems unstoppable, you know? And even though he has no reason to stop, I know he'll always stop for me."

"And that he'll always come back if he leaves you, even if it means going through a lot of trouble?"

"Every time," Cinder agrees, both of them grinning like crazy toddlers on sugar rushes.

The two of them stop paying attention to each other and stare at nowhere in particular instead, thinking of their respective crushes. Cinder doesn't even realise they'd stopped talking until Peony falls off the bed and yelps, sitting up with an utterly confused look on her face.

"Don't tell," Peony whispers as Cinder pulls her up.

"I won't if you won't?"

"Agreed."

Cinder nods, glad she hadn't said too much because, as much as she trusts Peony, she knows how sly Adri and Pearl can be when they want to know something, especially if it's something regarding how to make Cinder's life miserable.

The day passes too quickly after that, probably because she can't focus on washing the dishes or tidying up when Kai's beautiful smile is constantly on her mind and his gorgeous eyes seem to be stuck in her brain.

The day's exhaustion fades into a distant memory by the time she can stop doing various jobs and lift her feet up. Sighing, she leans back against the wall, letting the mattress act as a safe haven as she shuts her eyes and breathes. And breathes. She breathes because heaven knows a lot had happened throughout the day - she did the laundry with the most quixotic specimen of the male race, for star's sake - and she'd been given no time to actually think about it.

As it is, she gets no time in the end. Not because another task comes up but because she starts drifting into a well-earned and definitely overdue sleep, slumping so she lands on her side and automatically pulling the blanket up so she can be warm. She tries her best to keep her eyelids apart but they seem to resent the idea and adamantly connect over and over again.

Eventually, with Kai on her mind and a smile on her face, sleep takes over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me! Leave a kudos or comment?


	15. Penny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back! Thanks if you're still here! Also, shout out to @prncesselene for the line 'Stars-knew-who about Aces-knew-what'!!!

Monday blues were a thing but Cinder didn't have them. If anything, she'd had the weekend blues. Were those a thing? Cinder doesn't even care, she's just more than elated to finally be out of the house and back to work, surrounded by the whirring of machines along with the scent of paint and oil and metal.

She totally wasn't also looking forward to seeing a certain customer ask about a certain car, of course not, she's was far too professional for anything like that.

She pauses at the door of the garage, smiling at the familiar sight of hopeful customers and her kind-hearted, tired colleagues who'd probably been working the night shift again.

"Cinder, hey!" Zac calls as soon as she walks in, smiling wider than should be possible for someone with bags under their eyes.

"Hey, Zac." Cinder swallows a yawn that'd been solely prompted by Zac's yawn and elbows him. "Go on, I know you're itching to get out of here."

Zac grins at her. "Thanks... Good luck..." he starts to walk away before abruptly stopping and turning to wink at her. "You might want to be in workshop three at half twelve, just saying..."

"Get out already!" Cinder can't hide her blush as he laughs before walking out.

But, nevertheless, she makes sure she's finished up everywhere else before twelve so she can work on the Mercedes. For some reason, the car lies abandoned to one side, as if nobody had wanted to work on it.

It's not even a surprise when someone tentatively knocks on the door of the workshop. Someone, of course, being Kai.

"Hey, barista." She's not even sure where the nickname comes from but it rolls off her tongue like perfectly brewed coffee so she doesn't try to amend it.

"Hey, princess." Kai waves at her before blushing and running a hand through his hair. "How can I help you?"

"I don't think you can," She replies.

"I disagree."

She can practically hear the smirk in his voice so she humours him and raises an eyebrow, staying silent so he can continue.

Kai beams and then brings his hands out from behind his back to reveal a cup of coffee. "So... This won't help?"

"Uh..."

Making an expression of pity, Kai starts to turn, taking the cup away from her, and that's all she needs to give up her argument and concede.

"I was so wrong," Cinder blurts, lunging for the cup with a faint smile. He smiles back at her and it's the most beautiful sight she's seen all day, his face full of sunshine and happiness.

After one, small, sip of the perfectly brewed coffee, she points to his car. "I'm sorry, we haven't gotten very far with it."

Kai shrugs. "Don't worry about it. It's only a vehicle, after all."

Cinder shoots him a grateful smile before practically gulping down the next bit of coffee, ignoring the burning sensation on her tongue but regretting that when Kai awkwardly taps her back after she chokes on the scalding warmth.

"Don't forget to breathe," Kai whispers. Embarrassingly, she realises she had and has to make a conscious effort to inhale but, luckily, Kai doesn't seem to judge her for it.

"This is really good coffee," she compliments eventually, after such a long pause that Kai jumps, his eyes widening before he laughs at himself. "Sorry," Cinder mutters.

Kai only shakes his head, still laughing a little. Not wanting to waste time by drinking coffee in the middle of any conversation they might start, she plans to finish her drink before he stops laughing. Except that she can't because she can't physically take her eyes off his perfectly curved dimples and the adorable crinkles creating triangles on the side of his face. In fact, she only manages to look away when Kai recovers and semi-frowns at her, tilting his head to ask why she's staring at him.

A blush rises on her face. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Oh?" Kai fumbles in his pocket for a second before pulling out something small and round. "A penny for your thoughts?"

It takes her a second but she bursts out laughing, stumbling forwards as she fails to stifle it and sending a small drop of coffee flying at Kai. Gasping, he drops the penny and the two of them watch it roll under the table, Kai chuckling and Cinder cursing. Both of them decide to leave it there and looking at each other instead. As they lose themselves in one another's eyes, a thought comes to Cinder's mind and she tries to suppress it but her mouth is against her so she blurts,

"You don't even need that penny!"

"No?"

She can't tell if Kai is amused or not but, knowing that she's too far into it, she carries on. "I mean, have you looked in the mirror? You essentially have two, beautiful pennies on your face at any given moment and I'm sure the world would agree with me." A second later, she flushes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"You're right."

Shocked, she coughs and looks up again, in time to see Kai grin. "But, nevertheless, you owe me a penny."

This time, Cinder smirks. "And what evidence do you have for that statement, mister barista?"

"Our memory is my witness, princess."

Skies, she's never loved anyone's wit more.

They both flinch as Kai's phone rings and he makes a bashful face at her, gratefully smiling when she nods at him with a knowing smile. He turns and walks a little to the left, leaning on the wall as he starts talking to stars-knows-who about aces-knows-what. She might have been able to listen in - excluding the input of a moral compass - but she's still thinking about the brightness in his coppery eyes and how they'd be worth so much more than any penny they might resemble. After enough time for her to reassemble her frazzled composure, Kai hangs up the phone with a guilty look.

"I'm sorry, princess, I have to get back- there's uh... One of my friends is- Well, he needs my help..."

His voice is laced with so much compassion, she could kiss it. Or him-

"That's okay," she manages to say, "I'll have your penny next time we meet."

"I'm counting on it." Kai winks at her before giving her a small wave and rushing out of the door.

What in the name of spades? She groans in frustration, flopping onto the floor with a heavy sigh, wondering why on earth she'd thought about kissing him just after he'd told her his friend needed help. If Iko was here, she'd manage to find a reason but Cinder can't find anything logically romantic in her situation. It's only about five minutes later that she gives up problem-solving and scribbles 'penny' on her hand in what she hopes isn't permanent marker so she doesn't forget, just in case she somehow manages to exile Kai from her mind, where thoughts of him never sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes!! Leave a kudos or comment?


	16. Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, this has 8k views on ffn, how insane?? Thanks if you're still here and have stuck with me, i love you!!!

 

 

**(Kai POV)**

 

"You'd better have some kind of amazing explanation for this," Kai warns as soon as Thorne trudges out of the Principle's office with a slight grimace on his face.

 

"You didn't have to come!" Thorne protests.

 

"Oh sorry, did you want to be expelled?" Kai rolls his eyes, the sass practically dripping from his words.

 

Thorne shrugs but then throws an arm around Kai and winks. "You should see the state of the other dude though."

 

"Who was it this time?" Kai asks as they start walking to Thorne's next class. Kai still has another free period - that he'd actually really hoped to spend with Cinder - but both his and Thorne's teachers are used to them attending each other's classes, knowing that they act as an academic catalyst to one another.

 

"Remember that guy who keeps pushing people into the pool?"

 

Kai blinks. "You finally did it?"

 

"I did. Don't be surprised if you see him wearing a beanie to cover his hair... Or lack thereof." Thorne sounds so gleeful that if you didn't know how annoying the other boy is, you'd probably report him to the police.

 

"What class is this again?" Kai asks once they're settled in the middle of the room, the front being too exposed and the back simply too far away to hear everything.

 

"Welcome to the theory of physical education!"

 

"So basically biology."

 

Thorne elbows him but doesn't disagree.

 

They bicker but get all the notes and understanding Thorne needs by the time class is over, and Kai can barely contain his impatience through the next hour of economics.

 

"Slow down, nerd." Thorne pulls on Kai's arm as he starts to walk towards the garage.

 

"What is it, jock?" Kai raises an irked eyebrow but his expression is compassionate nonetheless.

 

Thorne grins upon hearing the nickname they'd given each other for the fun of it but then clears his throat. "She needs my approval."

 

"Sorry?"

 

"This girl you won't stop running off to meet. She. Needs. My. Approval." Each word is accompanied by Thorne poking Kai's nose, making him step back each time.

 

"Knock it off!" Kai brushes Thorne's hand away with a chuckle but then sighs, knowing he can't win this argument. "As long as you behave."

 

"I solemnly swear it!" Thorne places a hand over his chest.

 

"Yeah, that's what the marauders said too..." Kai mumbles but accepts the promise anyway. "Come on."

 

Throne blinks. "Wait, now?"

 

"Why, haven't you had your beauty sleep yet?"

 

"A blink is all the beauty sleep I need," Thorne huffs, looping his arm around Kai's and starting to walk.

 

"Yeah, alright, sleeping beauty, but the garage is the other way."

 

"I knew that, I was just testing your love," Thorne says instantly, turning them around and grinning sideways at Kai as if navigation skills can somehow determine the compatibility of a potential couple.

 

Kai really hopes Cinder will be there because it'd be almost as embarrassing as the lack of apple strudel and it would give way to a plethora of bad jokes about imaginary girlfriends if she wasn't.

 

Luckily, when Kai leads Thorne through the garage - saying hi to the girl at the front because she recognises him by now - and into workshop three, Cinder is in fact there.

 

"Kai! And other person... Hey!" Cinder waves, her hands coated in something that looks similar to oil but Kai's probably never heard the name of before.

 

"What, no swoon?" Thorne winks.

 

"You're a swoon," Kai mutters just as Cinder says,

 

"You wish."

 

Thorne dramatically sighs as Cinder and Kai exchange a happy look, then he frowns and purposely all but falls flat on the floor, jumping back up a minute of confused silence later with dust in his hair, which Kai immediately picks out, of course.

 

"I found a lucky penny!"

 

Kai stifles his laugh as he realises it's the same penny he'd dropped the last time. Nevertheless, he asks, "And why is it lucky?"

 

"Because I found it, duh," Thorne replies, pocketing the coin.

 

When Kai looks to Cinder, she seems to be on the verge of doubling over, a hand over her mouth to stifle her hysteria. Thorne follows his gaze and blinks in surprise when he sees that she's amused rather than impressed. "Have I missed something?"

 

"Just your chance at impressing me." Cinder rolls her eyes.

 

Kai inwardly sighs with relief, guiltily thankful that Cinder hadn't chosen Thorne over him like so many before have, and it must show on his face because Thorne coughs pointedly and elbows him.

 

"Ow!" Kai reacts with, then blinks and silently thanks his stars for Thorne knowing how to be a wingman of sorts. A situation like this is the only reason he'd agreed to be part of Thorne's weird brotherhood of the tragically pulchritudinous, whatever that's meant to mean in his complicated logic.

 

"Kai, you're crashing at mine tonight, don't forget!" Thorne grins before turning and winking so Cinder can't see it and proceeding to walk out of the door as if he knows the way back out.

 

"Who's that, your brother?" Cinder asks, then squints. "Actually... Uh..."

 

Kai chuckles. "Not really, but I suppose that's an accurate description anyway."

 

And because the two of them are unsure of who should start the conversation since Thorne has now left, there's a small silence in which they just stare at each other in the hope that inspiration or courage will strike.

 

"So, what was the emergency?" Cinder asks eventually.

 

Instantly, the palpable silence is cut open and Kai smiles. "Thorne- uh, the one who came in with me, he almost got expelled."

 

"Almost?" Cinder echoes.

 

Speaking of almost, he almost forgets to reply because he's lost in the beautiful look of curiosity in Cinder's eyes. He forgets she's home-schooled since admiring the way her hair is pulled back and strands of it are falling in front of her face is a far higher priority to his brain, apparently.

 

After seeing her raise her eyebrows with a small blush on her face, Kai feels his own face heat up and shrugs. "We have... I don't know, it's like the school takes pity on him... And me as well? As long as there's a somewhat reasonable explanation."

 

"Like what?"

 

"Well, like finally getting back at the guy who keeps pushing people into the pool and then stealing their shoes so they have to go home cold, wet and barefoot."

 

Cinder snorts. "He sounds like a douche that deserves a broken nose."

 

Kai's eyes widen. He can't help it, he hates violence and he can't stand the idea of it being used, no matter what the circumstance. He wishes she'd said anything else, anything else at all, because now he's thinking of the last time he'd seen a broken nose and how helpless he'd felt and then he's back in that car and he can see the danger but he can't do anything, he can't do anything, he can't-

 

"I'm really sorry, I have to, um, I have to get going, sorry," Kai mumbles before pivoting on the spot and running, running out of the garage despite the people who stare at him, despite the people on the pavement that yell after him, despite the tears blooming in his eyes.

 

Kai hates himself for leaving Cinder with no explanation, wanting to have left a good impression because he's never appreciated someone so much before, but unable to go back in his panicked state and try to explain. Even amongst the chaos of flashbacks, he manages to hope she'll forgive him and won't mind spending time with him in the future.

 

He's gasping and swallowing and trying his best not to collapse when he reaches Thorne's house. The door opens before he can knock, which is a blessing because he's not sure he could have knocked, and the next thing he knows, he's sitting on Thorne's bed with someone's arm around him and soft music playing in the background.

 

"Hey, hey, breathe, it's okay," Thorne soothes as if he really were Kai's brother, continuing to murmur until Kai can mostly breathe again.

 

"She's going to hate me and-"

 

"If she's worth your time, she won't do anything of the sort," Thorne assures and Kai nods, wanting so badly to accept it.

 

"You can message her after we've watched the modelling show, deal?"

 

Kai nods, breathes deeply, smiles weakly, and keeps the thought of messaging Cinder his goal as the two of them watch a show only Thorne really likes but they both manage to find amusing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos or comment?


	17. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am so sorry, I finished this chapter a week ago and I somehow missed out AO3 when posting!! My bad!! I am so untrustworthy, which is really ironic considering the title for this part... But, seriously, my apologies to anyone who follows this!!

Cinder's heart falters as she watches Kai literally stumble away from their conversation.

She can't think after he leaves, she can't get the image of his contained tears out of her mind, she can't focus on anything other than what could have happened. She doesn't even trust herself to try and come up with a plan for the rest of the day.

"Cinder?" Iko asks tentatively, clearly sensing that something is wrong.

"Hey, Iko," Cinder replies, sighing.

Iko raises an eyebrow and places her hands on her hips. "Alright, spill. What happened with Mr Sexy Barista?"

Cinder cracks a small smile at the title but then shakes her head again. "It's nothing."

"If that were true, you wouldn't still be polishing that wrench ten minutes later."

She blushes, caught oil-handed, and places said wrench on the table, sighing as she turns to Iko with a grateful look. "He left."

"He broke up with you?" Iko asks, her voice neutral but her eyes threatening to explode with rage.

Quickly, Cinder shakes her head. "No!"

Iko's relief is honestly almost as intense as Cinder's curiosity. By the time Cinder's thrown out some explanatory words and Iko has understood the situation, the two of them are equally as confused about and worried for Kai.

Cinder stays silent as Iko paces and mutters things to herself because, while she can usually work out people's motives and judge their character, she's absolutely rubbish at figuring out emotions and feelings, especially when it's someone she actually likes, even more so when it's someone she truly cares about.

"If I had to guess," Iko says eventually, "I'd say it wasn't anything you did directly."

"Iko, there was nobody else here, who else could it have been?"

"No, I mean, you probably just reminded him of something else. If it was you, he wouldn't have made an effort to be polite before leaving, would he?"

"I don't know; people are confusing."

Iko snorts in amusement but recovers quickly, clearing her throat. "Look, he'll come back. Just wait for him."

Cinder bites her lip but she knows Iko is intelligent and can be trusted when it comes to boys so she nods and exhales. Well, she nods, exhales and stops whatever she's trying to achieve by passive-aggressively cleaning random tools. Iko finds someone to cover for her and she trudges back to the place she wishes she didn't have to call home. Luckily, Adri has no chores for her yet so she can go back to her room, almost missing the fact that her laptop is back on her bed.

"What?" she asks the air, then scrambles to plug the laptop in and switch it on.

As soon as the home screen fades into view, she opens tumblr, needing to message Kai, needing to ask him if he's okay. The ten seconds it takes for the website to load could be ten years for how slow they seem to go by but it matters not because then she's logged in and finding Kai's blog like it's a second nature to her.

_**-kai?** _

_**-are you okay?** _

And then, after a moment's hesitation...

_**-di** **d** **i do something wrong?**_

Not surprisingly, she doesn't immediately get a reply back.

It takes over an hour for a reply to come through, during which Cinder aimlessly rearranges her room and makes sure everything is organised enough to satisfy even the pickiest of the organised. She jumps when she sees the little light flashing even though she'd been expecting it to happen.

_-My apologies for leaving so abruptly._

_-I needed to clear my head._

_-You did nothing wrong, don't worry, princess!_

_**-are u sure?** _

_-Of course._

_**-im almost sure ur just saying that to make me feel better** _

_-What a ridiculous suggestion..._

**_-it's ok, you don't have to tell me anything_ **

**_-just..._ **

**_-i'm sorry, ok?_ **

_-A comma? You must be sincere._

_-Thank you._

_**-shut up** _

_-Make me!_

Cinder blinks. She's only ever seen couples say that to each other, and it's usually just before they kiss or something. She doesn't know what she's meant to say to that, whether she's expected to do something romantic in return, and she's about to panic when Kai saves her.

- _Did I do it right?_

_-I've seen people say that and I figured it was a more interesting response than a simple denial._

_-My apologies if I did it wrong._

**_-u scared me_ **

_-I scared you?_

**_-i dont know why i told you that. nvm_ **

_-If it's any help, you don't need to make me shut up. I'm not even talking..._

**_-oh, bc ur typing?_ **

**_-very original_ **

_-It worked, didnt it?_

**_-depends_ **

_-You stopped being scared, right?_

She laughs. He's right, it did work. She replaced her anxiety with exasperation and it worked. If it was anyone else, she'd probably be annoyed at them having figured her out so quickly. For some reason or the other, she finds herself being amused at Kai instead of irked, and she appreciates him instead of being irritated with him. She makes a mental note to ask Iko about that tomorrow before shifting her attention back to Kai's message.

_**-you wish** _

_-Goodnight, Princess._

_-And thank you._

_-For understanding._

**_-are u okay? ur using three messages for one sentence_ **

_-I'm slightly in a rush..._

**_-so ur solution is to send more messages?_ **

_-No, my solution is to send fragments._

_-So that I don't leave you with awkward silence._

_-I really have to go._

**_-Can't wait to check up on the car!_ **

**_-me too_ **

**_-okay i guess ur gone_ **

**_-bye_ **

Cinder's mind immediately tells her that saying 'me too' was a bad idea but she ignores it, instead focusing on her relief that Kai is okay.

She shuts the computer down so no battery is wasted and flops down onto her bed, sighing happily. She's done a lot of happy sighing lately, mostly because of Kai and his adorable eccentricities, but she won't complain because she likes the rush of warmth in her heart every time she sees his smile, the comfort she finds in his eyes, the sparks she feels every time they're close to one another.

With a start, she realises she might have found someone to trust. Trust doesn't come easily to her but, with Kai, she's all but ready to give him everything. And it scares her. Cinder's trust is the key to a friendship with her but it's also a weapon that she's giving away, making herself vulnerable. As her eyes become heavy and start to close, she just hopes that trusting Kai won't be a mistake. She hopes it's worth it in the end and, frankly, she'd never hoped for anything more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!! Sorry again!! Leave a kudos or comment?


	18. Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm not dead even though it's been like three months... I started this fic over a year ago and they're not together yet, I'm so sorry. Thanks to anyone who's still here, I love you guys!

 

The first thing that isn't generally assumed to be done in the mornings that Cinder does when she wakes up is switch on her laptop and log into her tumblr.

She's met with four new messages:

\- _Good Morning, Princess!_

_\- Thorne says that I should explain what happened but I don't have a way to articulate it just yet so is it okay if I don't for now?_

_\- I completely understand if you don't appreciate my insincerity and would like to stop working on my car now._

_\- Have an ace day!_

Needless to say, she ends up grinning at her screen for so long that her eyes unfocus and everything goes blurry.

At that point, she blinks and types a quick reply, knowing she doesn't have much time before breakfast is expected to be ready.

\- _**relax, idm, take ur time**_

_**\- c u at the garage, kite boy** _

_**\- ps. say hi to thorne for me by throwing smthing at him?** _

She then deftly logs out and shuts the laptop down, not wanting anyone to stumble across it and find out about Kai.

Breakfast is a blur, laundry is spent thinking about that one time she'd spent insulting her so-called family's fashion's taste, and her brisk walk to the café is silent.

The glass door slides open with ease so she slips inside, shivering as the warmth of the place hits her cool body. For a moment, she thinks she's made a mistake in calculating Kai's working schedule but no, she spots his silky hair behind the main counters within seconds.

Grinning to herself, she joins the small line of sleepy customers and ducks her head down a little so Kai won't recognise her.

"Why the hiding?" someone asks from behind her so she turns to see a girl with a curious smirk on her face.

Cinder shrugs. "Watch and see."

The girl nods at her, her eyes flickering between blue and green as the light hits them, and gestures for Cinder to move as the line shortens.

They don't talk more until they're at the front of the line and Cinder turns, giving the girl a small wink before stepping forwards.

"One 'I like your shoelaces', please," Cinder says, keeping her voice level, trying her best to keep a straight face.

Slightly flushed, Kai nods without looking up. "One 'I like your- wait, what?"

He pauses, drops the lid he'd picked up, and looks up with a ridiculous combination of fear and glee on his face. His copper eyes light up as soon as he matches her gaze, his furrows eyebrows of confusion rising to form a joyful expression.

"Cinder! What are you doing here? I mean, aside from more or less ordering coffee, of course..." he grins sheepishly, starting to make said beverage for her without her having to say anything.

She faces the girl behind her, who's stifling a laugh, and gives her a quick nod as if to say 'voila' before turning back to Kai and shrugging. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

He nods at her without looking up again. "I'm okay, but I still don't understand how you can drink coffee if it's black, or at all..."

Chuckling, Cinder leans on the counter, only partially mesmerised by the way his hands deftly align the stencil and sprinkle whatever it is they put on top of coffee. "That's not your problem, kite boy," she mumbles, hoping he won't notice how distracted she is.

He must not, or he just doesn't mind, because he offers her the cup and sends her a charming smile. "If you can wait ten minutes, my shift ends then."

A part of Cinder wants to tell him that she'd easily, without question, wait hours, days, weeks, or years for him but she can't even explain that to herself so trying to articulate it for someone else is out of the question. Which is probably why she only nods and takes the cup from him, smiling as best as she can.

"Sure, thanks."

The girl behind her grins widely before subtly saluting to Cinder, flicking her long, straight hair as she does, then placing her order.

It only occurs to her that she hadn't even offered to pay when Kai slides into the chair opposite her with messy hair, a lopsided smile and bright, bashful eyes.

"Hey Princess," Kai says sofly, his voice smoother than the oil she'd used to fix the door hinges in her house just last week.

"Hey..." Cinder bites her lip, then sighs, deciding to just go for it. "Did I say something? I know your messages were diplomatic and all but I don't think I entirely believe you."

He looks startled for a moment before lightly shrugging his shoulders. "Honestly, I'm not a fan of violence. I simply didn't take it so well when you mentioned the whole nose-punching thing. I'd rather all noses stayed nicely unpunched at all times, if you know what I mean?"

She can't help it; she laughs.

Of course, she then promptly flushes and tried to hide behind her coffee cup, which serves as a great reminder of her payment, or lack thereof.

Knowing from his messages that he doesn't feel comfortable getting into why he prefers all noses to stay unpunched, she uses the opportunity to change the topic and says: "I didn't pay you!"

"Yes, that was the point," Kai replies, laughing, his dimples weakening her argument.

Trying her best to scowl - and succeeding if the look on Kai's face is anything to go by - and folding her arms, Cinder shakes her head. "I'm going to pay for it. You can't just give me free coffee, I'm pretty sure that's against your rules or whatever. Won't you get fired for a financial loss?"

"One single drink will hardly jeopardise the entire coffee industry, princess." He perfectly raises a perfect eyebrow and Cinder wants to punch something because everything about the way he'd said that had been so perfect, she'd momentarily forgotten her own name.

"Still..." she manages, angrily taking a sip of her coffee.

He bites his upper lip thoughtfully before his face lights up and he winks. "I found a way you can pay for your coffee without actually paying!"

"You would so fail business class." Cinder rolls her eyes.

"I'm actually top of my business class," Kai says, somehow managing to sound guilty for being smart, then frowns. "What exactly do you think a business class consists of anyway?"

Her brain blows a fuse because she's never attended a class, studied business, or anticipated she'd have to answer a question like that. Luckily, she's saved from stumbling through an answer by the girl from earlier, who comes up to them and gently taps Kai on the shoulder, steeping back as Kai jumps, turning.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, the boy at the counter said you should go and catch your bus now," she says, her voice soft and sincere.

"Thank you." Kai smiles at her, quickly stepping out of his chair and holding out a hand for Cinder to take.

She stares at it, confused, until the girl clears her throat and she's jerked back into the present, taking Kai's hand for a moment, using him as a ballast to stand.

The girl quietly laughs behind them and heads back to her table, nodding encouragingly to Cinder before sitting opposite a boy that must be her twin brother, judging by the stark similarity between them.

"Cinder?" Kai asks, having opened the door for them.

"Huh? Oh, your bus. Right." She lets him hold the door open for her but falls into step right beside him as soon as they're outside.

Of course, he leads the way, but they're equal as they walk, their steps echoing on the pavement. They don't say anything but she appreciates it anyway, liking that they can be under a comfortable silence without it being too awkard, liking that Kai isn't someone who needs certain things out of their friendship for it to work.

She's almost sad that they get to the bus stop without interruption. Kai seems to be sharing her thoughts because he looks almost troubled for a second but quickly recovers, smiling again, once more sending warmth through Cinder's veins and arteries.

"I'll see you later, at the garage, right?" He looks at her with what should be an illegal amount of hope.

Cinder smirks. "Unless one of us goes blind before then, yeah. Until next time, barista."

They can hear the bus approaching so she waves at him, turning around before he can see her blush when he happily waves back, and starts walking to the garage, definitely not stopping and looking back to fondly watch the bus turn the corner, definitely not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can thank Bella (The Original Percabeth Child) on FFN for this chapter as it was a birthday gift for her!
> 
> That also means I wanted to get it out quicker and spent less time proof-reading, sorry for any mistakes! But happy August, y'all!!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos or comment?


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